- 6/8/2025
For educational purposes
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber.
The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades, it has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955 and was flown by NASA from 1959 to 2007.
The bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons[3] and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles (14,200 km) without aerial refueling.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber.
The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades, it has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955 and was flown by NASA from 1959 to 2007.
The bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons[3] and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles (14,200 km) without aerial refueling.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30At the dawn of the Cold War, America develops a long-range bomber to defend the free world.
00:40It is the B-52 Stratofortress, a plane that can still deliver a 13-ton payload to any target on the globe.
00:49The destructive power of the B-52 strike truly has to be seen to be believed.
01:00In 1961, tensions rise as the Berlin Wall separates east from west like never before.
01:19There will be further setbacks before the tide is turned, but turn it we must.
01:301962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brings mankind to the edge of nuclear annihilation.
01:42It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba as an attack
01:50by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.
01:58It is a machine born of the Cold War.
02:18The B-52 has stood nuclear vigil over an uneasy world for nearly a half century.
02:25Since first taking to flight in 1952, this stark symbol of Armageddon has evolved from a nuclear bomber
02:33into one of the most brutal tools in America's arsenal.
02:37If the B-52 is the material embodiment of the Cold War, then General Curtis LeMay was its personification.
02:46As the architect and commander of Strategic Air Command, or SAC, critics say that LeMay was both brilliant and dangerous,
02:54that he hoped to put SAC's nuclear forces to use before Soviet advances challenged American dominance.
03:01Rarely has a man imprinted himself upon an armed service as General LeMay did upon the Strategic Air Command.
03:07Everybody in the Strategic Air Command knew General LeMay, if not personally, at least by reputation.
03:17Every man wanted to be approved of by him.
03:20No one wanted to go see him about an accident or anything.
03:23He made SAC in his own image, and it was a very, very elite outfit.
03:30Russia was building airplanes as fast as it could.
03:32The first heavy bomber that built was a copy of the B-29.
03:38It was advancing, however.
03:39We knew that its missiles, sciences were improving.
03:43And so General LeMay had a task.
03:45He was tasked to defend the free world from the United States with nuclear bombers.
03:49The favorite line from the movie is, fighters make movies, bombers make history.
03:56That's the way it works.
03:57You don't win a war by killing a guy one at a time at 30,000 feet, like fighters do.
04:01You win it by killing lots of guys on the ground all at once, and that's what bombers do.
04:06Despite its utility, the B-52 is likely entering its final days.
04:11Of nearly 750 built, less than 100 H-model aircraft are left.
04:17Yet it remains one of the most powerful icons of the world's only surviving superpower.
04:23The plane was originally designed to deliver the atomic blow.
04:27It still can.
04:29If called upon, the B-52 can wield a variety of nuclear weapons
04:33or haul 13 tons of conventional bombs to any target on the globe.
04:41Pilots have a nickname for this Leviathan, the buff.
04:50Obviously, B and U are big and ugly.
04:53F stands for fat, and the second F stands for mmm.
04:59So it's a big, ugly, fat fella.
05:02Global missions require aerial refuelings.
05:06In less than 15 minutes, the aircraft can take on 100,000 pounds of its 320,000-pound fuel load,
05:14fuel that is stored in over 60 internal bladders.
05:20It is an exhausting chore.
05:22The B-52 is not a nimble machine,
05:24and its proximity to an airborne tanker requires intense focus,
05:29often leaving the pilot drenched in sweat with arms that feel like lead.
05:36When full, these bladders actually strengthen the integrity of a wingspan
05:46that runs two-thirds the length of a football field.
05:51If you look at the airplane, it looks like, you know, virtually the size of a 747,
05:55and you'd think there'd be acres of space.
05:57You climb in, and you're cheek-by-jawl with the pilot and co-pilot side-by-side.
06:02Downstairs, the navigator and the radar bombardier are equally close quarters.
06:08It's also a matter of funk.
06:11Hot, fragrant.
06:14The B-52 smells like nothing else.
06:17It smells like a mixture of sweat,
06:20old laundry,
06:20books,
06:23flight lunches from the 1950s,
06:25spilled coffee,
06:26Coca-Cola that got poured out of a can during a low-level bombing mission,
06:30and the contents of the onboard facilities.
06:33You kind of mix that whole mess together,
06:36odoriferous-wise,
06:37and you come off a B-52,
06:38and the first thing you want to do is you want to shower,
06:41because you smell like the airplane.
06:42The first time you sit in it and you fly it, you think,
06:48holy cow, this is a whole lot of airplane to be driving around,
06:50and you're going to trust me with it?
06:53You get to looking at it,
06:55and literally these airplanes are older than almost everybody who's flying them right now.
06:59It's a,
07:00it's,
07:00it's a,
07:02kind of daunting to think about,
07:04that there's been generations of guys sitting in that seat before you doing the same thing.
07:10The bomber dates back to the early 1950s,
07:12when the Air Force called for a weapon that could carry a 10,000-pound load
07:18at over 500 miles an hour,
07:20deep into the Soviet Union.
07:22More than 40 years later,
07:24the B-52 has left a legacy unmatched since the B-17,
07:28and its reputation for durability is overshadowed only by its legendary maneuverability.
07:35B-52 has eight engines,
07:37and they have the power of 10 locomotives,
07:39and there's enough aluminum on the airplane
07:41to make 100,000 trash cans,
07:43and it's got 10,000 miles of wire,
07:44and it flies like 10 locomotives,
07:46pulling 100,000 trash cans on 10,000 miles of wire.
07:49The landing gear on the B-52 is extremely unique.
07:59Landing this thing in a crosswind was really wild,
08:01because the airplane would actually be flying sideways,
08:05and these eight wheels can be pivoted,
08:08so that they line up with the runway,
08:10even though the airplane isn't.
08:11The only airplane in the inventory that ever did this,
08:14and this is something that is very, very weird for a pilot.
08:18If you're sitting this way,
08:20and the runway's that way,
08:21and you're landing that way,
08:23not facing the way you're going,
08:25this is strange and hard to get used to.
08:28Early models pack four .50 caliber machine guns in the rear turret.
08:32The guns are radar-controlled,
08:34and some believe the system outdated,
08:36but enemy pilots will later find
08:39that the .52's sting is a deadly one.
08:43And so the MiGs would come up behind the B-52
08:46out of the range of their guns,
08:48their 23-millimeter cannons.
08:50Trouble was, they forgot something.
08:52They were trying to shoot with a 500-knot headwind.
08:55These guns were shooting with a 500-knot tailwind,
08:58and it had a much greater range.
08:59So they would come up behind the airplane, the B-52,
09:02think they were safe.
09:03Goodbye.
09:101962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis
09:13marks the only time in history
09:15that Strategic Air Command has ever gone to DEFCON 2,
09:18just one step away from full-scale nuclear war.
09:26In little more than a decade,
09:28SAC had grown from a decrepit skeleton of 300 planes
09:31to the most devastating strike force the world has ever seen.
09:35Under the guidance of General Curtis LeMay,
09:38bomber command mushrooms to over 3,000 aircraft
09:41and to nearly 300,000 men.
09:44The centerpiece,
09:47the B-52.
09:48It's interesting that as a result of the Cold War,
09:54people look at the heavy bomber as a political weapon in some cases,
09:57as opposed to, say, a fighter.
09:59To a military guy,
10:01you're involved in destroying things and taking a life.
10:03So how you do it is kind of
10:05how many furries can dance on the head of a pen.
10:10After the Cuban Missile Crisis,
10:12world leaders never again look at Cold War brinksmanship
10:15in the same light.
10:17Instead,
10:18the superpower conflict confines itself to a different arena,
10:22the third world.
10:23By mid-decade,
10:24the B-52 finds itself again on the front line,
10:28this time joining a battle for which it was never intended
10:31in a little-known place called Vietnam.
10:34By 1965,
10:39President Lyndon Baines Johnson
10:41is fully entangled in Vietnam.
10:44So, too,
10:44are the men of Strategic Air Command.
10:47Here,
10:47crews trained to fight a nuclear war
10:49stumble and fall.
10:52Here,
10:52the limits of air power
10:54contribute to the greatest defeat of American arms
10:56since the birth of the nation.
10:59The bomber generals
11:01who ran the Air Force
11:02at the beginning of Vietnam
11:03had essentially not much knowledge of
11:07and certainly no sympathy with
11:09the whole idea of a limited war.
11:12These are men who grew up in World War II,
11:15came of age as military leaders,
11:19and all of Europe was their target.
11:22They knew no bounds.
11:25Toward the end of World War II,
11:27even civilian targets were open and fair game.
11:33They were put under severe strictures
11:41as to where they might bomb,
11:43when they might bomb,
11:44who they might bomb.
11:46This ran counter to everything
11:48that they had learned.
11:50So,
11:51somebody like Le May
11:52looked at Vietnam
11:53and the political restrictions
11:55as just a total aberration.
11:57As the ground war heats up
12:02in Southeast Asia,
12:03this lone wolf nuclear penetrator
12:06finds itself doing a job
12:07that it was never built to do.
12:17But carrying conventional stores
12:19is a role to which it readily adapts.
12:24Nothing up there
12:25could haul that kind of iron.
12:28I mean,
12:29108 bombs on the D model,
12:31when you hit what you're aiming at,
12:33you really made a mess out of it.
12:35And in that respect,
12:36it was very successful.
12:38As far as getting the job done
12:39and being able to carry
12:40all of those bombs,
12:42there was nothing else
12:42that would do the job.
12:44DG,
12:45stand by to release.
12:47Ready, ready, now.
12:49Bombs away.
12:51By 1966,
12:53a program codenamed
12:54Big Belly
12:55doubles the B-52's punch
12:57from 54 to 108 bombs.
13:00And although North Vietnam
13:01is off limits to 52 strikes,
13:04much of the supply route
13:05along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
13:07is fair game.
13:08Approaching bombers
13:09flying in at 30,000 feet
13:11are seldom heard
13:13by those below.
13:16Step by for impact.
13:18Without warning,
13:20men and women
13:21along the trail
13:22are caught
13:23in an instant thunder
13:25of fire
13:26and steel.
13:34But airstrikes
13:35are often thwarted
13:36by Vietnamese ingenuity
13:38and determination.
13:40Entire villages
13:41move underground
13:42to avoid the bombing,
13:44and in spite of
13:45the American air onslaught,
13:47more supplies
13:48move south
13:49along the trail
13:50with each passing month.
13:56They usually fly
13:58in cells of six aircraft,
14:00and just one year
14:01after entering the conflict,
14:03Stratofortress crews
14:04are dropping
14:058,000 tons of bombs
14:07a month
14:07on suspected Viet Cong targets.
14:09It depends on how long
14:18you strung out the bombs
14:19that could be up
14:21to miles long.
14:23The area where it's hit
14:24is just nothing left
14:26but holes in the ground.
14:32And it sounds like
14:33the world's wildest
14:34bass drummer
14:35gone berserk.
14:35You sometimes think
14:47about, well,
14:48if I screw up
14:49or if I make a mistake,
14:52do I kill a wrong person,
14:53do I kill an innocent person?
14:54And you probably do that
14:55somewhat along the way.
14:58You can't dwell on it
14:59too much.
14:59You just have to try
15:00to do the best you can
15:01to make sure you do
15:02everything just properly.
15:04It's a job that you do.
15:05Gentlemen,
15:06in 10 seconds,
15:07the time will be
15:080-300 local,
15:1020-100 Zulu.
15:12By late 1972,
15:13the United States
15:14has run out of patience.
15:163, 2, 1,
15:19hack.
15:21American leaders
15:22are eager
15:23to disengage themselves
15:24from an increasingly
15:25unpopular war.
15:27For the first time,
15:29strategic bombing
15:29of the North
15:30is ordered.
15:31The campaign
15:32is codenamed
15:33Linebacker 2.
15:34And at American bases
15:38around the region,
15:39over 150 B-52s
15:42are massed
15:43for the attack.
15:44On December 18th,
15:46crews arrive
15:47at their briefings,
15:48unaware
15:48that the evening's
15:50destination
15:51is Hanoi.
15:52Bless these crews.
15:55Bless their families
15:56and loved ones.
15:57And let what they do
15:58today bring a better
16:00tomorrow.
16:01Amen.
16:02They told us
16:03that the target
16:03that night
16:04was Hanoi.
16:05There was a large
16:06elation for all the crew
16:07because we thought
16:08finally we're going
16:09to be able to do
16:09something to put
16:10an end to this.
16:11At the same time,
16:12there was also fear
16:13because you knew
16:14what we were going
16:15up against.
16:26Once we began
16:27hitting the railroad yards
16:29in Hanoi,
16:30the thermal plants,
16:31their storage facilities,
16:33they couldn't continue.
16:35We wanted to do that.
16:36That's why we had
16:37that sense of elation
16:38when we were told
16:39we were going to be able
16:40to bomb Hanoi.
16:41In 1964,
16:51the bomber generals
16:52had urged the targeting
16:53of Hanoi and Haiphong harbor.
16:56Now, nearly 10 years later,
16:58their demands
16:59are finally met.
17:00In 10 days,
17:02an estimated 1,500
17:03Vietnamese civilians
17:05perish.
17:07American bomber crews
17:09are denounced
17:09as war criminals.
17:11We were writing
17:15with a grease pencil
17:16on one of the bombs,
17:17you know,
17:18from Hank with Love.
17:20There was probably
17:21a little lighter banter
17:23than usual,
17:24but again,
17:25I think that was
17:25just to mask
17:26the excitement
17:27that we were feeling
17:28and maybe some fear.
17:30I don't know.
17:31The assault
17:32is never one-sided.
17:34The airspace above
17:35Hanoi is the most
17:35heavily defended
17:36since World War II
17:37Berlin.
17:39Rings of anti-aircraft guns
17:40and SAMs,
17:42surface-to-air missiles,
17:43surround the city.
17:50Surprise is non-existent.
17:53Incoming American bombers
17:54fly the same routes
17:56night after night.
17:57Russian intelligence trawlers
17:59and North Vietnamese MiGs
18:00track them,
18:02gauging altitude
18:02and airspeed,
18:04data which is then
18:05forwarded to SAM battery commanders.
18:08With the SAM coming up
18:09at a speed of about Mach 4,
18:11when it explodes,
18:13the fragments go out
18:14in approximately
18:15a 45-degree cone.
18:17So if you're above
18:18the SAM explosion,
18:20you're in bad shape.
18:21So the trick is
18:21you want to be
18:22even with it
18:23or descending
18:24when it went off,
18:25so the fragments went
18:25one way,
18:26you went the other.
18:27So that's what we had to do.
18:28We just pulled the thing
18:29into virtually a 90-degree bank
18:31and allowed it to fall.
18:32The B-52s are most vulnerable
18:37just after bomb release
18:39when making their slow turns
18:41back out to sea.
18:4633 Stratofortress crewmen
18:48are killed in linebacker 2.
18:50Another 33 are taken prisoner.
18:54In December of 72,
18:56I had seen several
18:57of our airplanes get hit.
18:59You could see them
18:59falling out of the sky.
19:00And you could hear the beepers,
19:02which were emergency beacons
19:04from the aircrew members
19:05that managed to escape.
19:15I heard this big loud thunk,
19:17a big buff,
19:18a big explosion,
19:20if you will.
19:21All my electronics
19:22died immediately.
19:23The position I had
19:24on the B-52
19:25I had then was
19:25there was a screen
19:26in front of me.
19:27And that was
19:28my primary indication
19:29of where the radars were.
19:30and spread across
19:31the frequency spectrum.
19:33And I remember
19:34seeing my face in there
19:35and saying,
19:35this is unusual,
19:36I shouldn't see my face in there.
19:37And the reason I saw my face
19:38is because I was
19:39surrounded by fire
19:40and I saw my reflection in there.
19:41I said, well,
19:42this is not a good place to be.
19:44I did not wait
19:45for the bailout command.
19:46I rotated my arming lever,
19:48which kicked the seat back,
19:49blew the hatch over my head.
19:51And then I was just free-falling.
19:53I fell through,
19:54must have been a flight of F-4s,
19:55because it was real noisy.
19:57I was spread-eagled
19:58and I could see
19:59the low-lying cloud deck
20:00below me
20:01and the orange glow of bombs
20:02going up.
20:02I could see these missiles
20:03coming up.
20:04I popped my life raft,
20:06et cetera,
20:07because I wasn't sure
20:07if I'd landed in water or not
20:08and wound up in a very nice
20:10muddy rice paddy.
20:13It was a big explosion
20:14and I had landed,
20:15it turns out,
20:16not very far away
20:17from this SA-2 site.
20:18And I could see the vans
20:19and trucks and people
20:21and I said,
20:22this is not a good place to be.
20:24I basically then just decided,
20:26well, I'm going to hide
20:26in a corner
20:27in the middle of this rice paddy
20:28and make sure nobody finds me.
20:31That's kind of funny now
20:32if you think about it.
20:33At the time,
20:33it wasn't funny at all,
20:34but one of the things
20:35that's in the seat kit
20:35is a sea marker die.
20:37And this is to be used
20:38if you happen to go down
20:39to the ocean,
20:40you release it
20:40and it makes a nice
20:41mint-green spot
20:42so people can find you
20:43if they're searching for you.
20:45And something had gotten
20:46into this thing
20:46and there I was lying
20:48in a mint-green puddle
20:48in a rice paddy.
20:50And I said,
20:50this is not going to be
20:51my day.
20:56Like hundreds
20:57of other American airmen,
20:59Hank Barrows
21:00soon finds himself
21:01a prisoner
21:01at the infamous
21:03Hanoi Hilton.
21:05What we have here
21:07are some mementos
21:07from the war,
21:08so to speak,
21:08in my little go-home bag.
21:12This is genuine
21:12Vietnamese naugahide,
21:14I think,
21:14but right here
21:16we have the pajama tops.
21:19Notice the color,
21:20notice the one-size-fits-all
21:22right here.
21:23I don't wear this stuff
21:24anymore for some
21:25strange reason
21:25and people ask me why
21:27but I guess I've worn it
21:28once too often already.
21:29I wore those every day.
21:30I had this set
21:31and I had, I believe,
21:32a black set
21:33or a dark set
21:33so we were able
21:34to do our laundry,
21:35so to speak,
21:36bathing them in the cistern,
21:38in the well
21:39with the lye soap on it
21:40and letting them air dry it.
21:42They did get
21:42kind of raunchy
21:43after a while.
21:44We had little rags
21:45that we would use
21:46to clean ourselves
21:46and when we were
21:47allowed to bathe
21:48we would basically
21:48go out to the cistern
21:49and we would take
21:50a rubber bucket,
21:51dip it in the well
21:51and dump the water
21:54on ourselves
21:55and this is hygiene.
21:58You would dump,
21:59you know,
21:59I have no idea
22:00what was in the water
22:01but it was better
22:01than not bathing at all.
22:03Charlie Brown
22:07and Copot
22:08and I spent
22:08about seven days
22:09including Christmas
22:10at the Heartbreak Hotel
22:12which was basically
22:13about a seven by seven
22:14foot cell
22:14with two concrete slabs
22:15on and leg irons
22:16which fortunately
22:17they didn't use on us.
22:18We had a blanket,
22:20a straw mat
22:21and a bucket.
22:23That was our facilities
22:24and we basically
22:24stayed in there.
22:25When you sit
22:26in a situation like that
22:27and you think about it
22:28you kind of reflect
22:29upon how much you have
22:30as a human being
22:31when you have
22:31absolutely nothing
22:32and nothing in the way
22:33of people.
22:33material things
22:34but you have
22:34another human being
22:36there with you
22:36and you can talk
22:37to that human being.
22:37It's quite a lot.
22:41Some have been there
22:42nearly a decade.
22:44Many find their faith
22:45in the nation's resolve
22:46to get them home
22:47badly shaken
22:48but the Christmas bombings
22:50of 1972
22:51soon prove
22:53they are not forgotten.
22:54despite world condemnation
23:09the bombing continues.
23:10time continues.
23:11By December 28th
23:13few targets
23:13of consequence remain.
23:15Hanoi has long
23:16since expended
23:17its supply
23:18of SAM missiles
23:19and with their
23:20MiG bases blown
23:21asunder
23:21the North's once
23:23daunting air defenses
23:24ceased to exist.
23:25now B-52s rain down
23:28their bombs
23:29with impunity.
23:32I tried
23:33not to think about
23:34what we were doing
23:35to those people
23:36personally
23:36but I tried to think
23:38about those
23:38friends that I'd lost
23:40and the friends that
23:42I lost daily
23:43because we had people
23:45get killed daily.
23:46Airplanes not come back
23:48and when you get back
23:49and you see
23:50someone come in
23:52to clear out a locker
23:53it kind of
23:55gave us a little bit
23:56of a feeling of
23:58to hell with them
24:00let's do what we've got to do
24:02and get this over with.
24:06The mounting devastation
24:08forces northern leaders
24:09to return
24:10to the bargaining table.
24:12Less than a month
24:13after the last bomb
24:14is dropped
24:15the armistice is signed
24:17but peace with honor
24:18is far from victory.
24:21In just two years time
24:22all of Vietnam
24:24will lie firmly
24:25in Hanoi's grasp.
24:28By March 1973
24:30the American airmen
24:32of the Hanoi Hilton
24:33prepare for their final flight
24:35in Southeast Asia.
24:39Just to see the 141
24:42just to see the American flag
24:43just to see an American officer
24:45and to see a fellow crew member
24:46it felt like giving them a hug
24:48and we basically sat in that aircraft
24:51lit up a cigar
24:52and then when they closed the doors
24:53we went slightly bananas
24:54when we broke the ground
24:55on takeoff
24:56we went even crazier
24:58and when they came on
25:00the intercom
25:00and said
25:00oh by the way
25:01we just left
25:01Vietnamese airspace
25:02we were ecstatic
25:03at that point.
25:06For men like Hank Barrows
25:08the war was finally over
25:10but for a nation
25:11and its military
25:12the debate over the lessons learned
25:14goes on.
25:17We could have nuked the place
25:18we could have turned
25:20all of North Vietnam
25:21into a glass floored
25:22self lighting parking lot
25:24but
25:25the price of this
25:27would not be
25:29simply victory
25:30in North Vietnam
25:32even if we had invaded
25:35North Vietnam
25:35and taken the place
25:37these people would still
25:38be resisting.
25:39My son
25:41today
25:42would probably be
25:43in an army
25:43that was garrisoning
25:45South and North Vietnam.
25:46We would still be there
25:49American sons
25:51would still be dying
25:52and I don't know
25:53where the end to it
25:55would have been.
25:57So maybe the end
25:58that we got
25:59was the end we deserved
26:00and at least it's over.
26:13For nearly half a century
26:15alert facilities like this
26:17were the stage
26:18where B-52 crews
26:20waited daily
26:20for orders
26:21to deliver Armageddon
26:22to Russian soil.
26:30Now the Cold War
26:31standoff is ended
26:33and a new era begun.
26:35In 1992
26:36a Soviet Bear bomber
26:37visited this former
26:38SAC base.
26:40Russian crew members
26:41overnighted
26:41in the alert facility.
26:42This mission of goodwill
26:45followed one made
26:46to Russian airspace
26:47by American B-52s
26:49a mission far removed
26:50from the kind
26:51first envisioned
26:52by Boeing designers.
26:54It was a revolution
27:04in firepower
27:05so the B-52
27:06became
27:07as it was known
27:08at the time
27:08SAC's long rifle.
27:10It was an accurate
27:10instrument
27:11that would carry
27:12high megaton bombs
27:13directly to the heart
27:14of the Soviet Union.
27:16It was a high altitude
27:17penetrator
27:17that would drop
27:18large megaton weapons
27:20on one or several targets
27:22and return.
27:23Over time
27:24the Soviet defenses
27:25improved
27:26and so it became
27:27necessary to evade
27:28those defenses
27:28with a low level bomber
27:30and they created
27:31the terrain following
27:33equipment
27:33and the forward looking
27:34television
27:35and the infrared
27:36that enabled it
27:37to penetrate
27:38at very low altitude
27:39300 feet.
27:40Difficult for the airframe
27:42because flying
27:42an airplane
27:43at 40,000 feet
27:44is far more comfortable
27:46and far less stressful
27:47than flying at 300 feet.
27:48Although the Cold War
27:51has passed into history
27:53the atomic threat
27:54has not.
27:55Most B-52s
27:56can be reconfigured
27:57to deliver nuclear weapons
27:59in just 15 minutes.
28:01There are still
28:02thousands of nuclear weapons
28:03out there
28:04on the other side
28:05and it's kind of
28:07puts a lot of concern
28:08in people's minds
28:09when you figure
28:09that there's a whole lot
28:10more countries
28:11that have them now
28:12since the breakup
28:12of the Soviet Union
28:13because the republics
28:15all have them
28:16so you've got
28:17more countries
28:18to deal with
28:18and things may be
28:20not quite as stable
28:21as they used to be.
28:22Three, two, one.
28:25Pack.
28:26Strategic Air Command
28:27ceased to exist
28:28as of June 1992.
28:31Strategic Command
28:32is the organization
28:33that now integrates
28:34all of America's
28:35nuclear forces.
28:36This is an area
28:37of the IAF-4 conditions.
28:39But just as was done
28:40at the height
28:41of the Cold War
28:42Stratofortress crews
28:43train constantly
28:44for the mission
28:45that calls on young men
28:46to do the unthinkable.
28:48Scatter deck at 500.
28:52It's not an abstract thing
28:53for some of us
28:53who pull it.
28:54It's kind of a scary thing
28:58to leave your family
28:59at home
28:59and go sit alert
29:00and knowing,
29:01you know,
29:02if the horn goes up
29:02you're never going
29:03to see them again.
29:04You're going to strap
29:04on a bomber
29:05and fly halfway
29:05across the world
29:06and do your mission.
29:15In order to expedite
29:17the engine start sequence
29:19we used explosive cartridges,
29:21controlled explosions
29:22if you will,
29:23of gunpowder
29:24and cartridges
29:25about the size
29:26of a very large can
29:27inside of each engine.
29:29It would fire those off
29:29with a huge cloud
29:30of smoke
29:31and sometimes
29:32a little fire
29:33and then pour the JP-4
29:35into those engines
29:36and get them cranked up
29:37and get the systems online
29:38and then you would
29:39start decoding
29:40the message
29:41that was coming out
29:42over the radio
29:42that you would start
29:43copying on your way
29:44to there
29:44because you carried
29:45a handheld radio
29:46and you start copying
29:47this message
29:47on the way to the plane
29:48so that when you got there
29:49you could decode it
29:50and find out
29:51if you were really
29:51going to war
29:52or if it was
29:53another exercise.
29:58When operating
30:03in a nuclear environment
30:04heavy curtains
30:06shutter the B-52 cabin
30:07upon penetrating
30:09the target area
30:10EVS monitors
30:11become the pilot's eyes.
30:13These relay
30:14an external television image
30:15or a video presentation
30:17of the plane's
30:18forward-looking
30:18infrared sensor.
30:19Turn it on our right wing.
30:27In simulators like this
30:29instructors ambush crewmen
30:31with every conceivable
30:32emergency
30:33while they carry out
30:34the mission assigned them.
30:35As on the plane itself
30:37more than 6,000 pounds
30:39of electronic
30:39countermeasure equipment
30:41are packed into the system.
30:43Employing this
30:44and defending the aircraft
30:45is a job that falls
30:46to the EWOL
30:47or electronic warfare officer.
30:49January 1991
30:59in the Persian Gulf
31:01the virtual reality
31:02viewed through the scopes
31:03and scanners
31:04of American air forces
31:05will soon turn
31:07very real.
31:0824 hours before the air assault
31:33on Iraq
31:33B-52 crews
31:35halfway around the globe
31:36prepare aircraft
31:38that will be the first
31:39launched in the war.
31:45Desert storm marks
31:46a turning point
31:47in combat aviation.
31:49For the first time
31:50pilots and machines
31:51using precision-guided munitions
31:53will bring an army
31:54and a nation
31:55to its knees.
31:57For the first time
31:58ground forces
31:59will support those in the air
32:00and not the other way around.
32:04Nearly 50 years
32:05after its inception
32:06the Stratofortress
32:08will again
32:08play a vital role.
32:10Not to be left behind
32:11in the age of stealth technology
32:13and precision munitions
32:14B-52s
32:16at Barksdale Air Force Base
32:17Louisiana
32:18are loaded
32:19with an entirely
32:20new kind of weapon
32:21the Calcum
32:22or conventional
32:23air-launched cruise missile.
32:25The missiles
32:28possess both
32:29an electronic map
32:30and upgraded
32:31satellite navigation capability.
32:3335 Calcums
32:34will target
32:35Iraqi command
32:36and control systems
32:37power plants
32:38and supply bases.
32:39The Air Force
32:40won't release
32:41bomb damage assessment
32:42but claims
32:43an accuracy rate
32:44of 80 to 90 percent.
32:49Precision-guided weapons
32:51are lauded
32:51as the key
32:52to desert storm
32:53but in reality
32:5490 percent
32:55of the ordnance dropped
32:56are iron bombs.
32:59Many a surplus
32:59from Vietnam
33:00and before war's end
33:02the Stratofortresses
33:03will drop more munitions
33:04on Saddam Hussein's forces
33:06than those expended
33:08by the RAF
33:09over Europe
33:09during all
33:10of World War II.
33:17It was more of a feeling
33:19that yeah
33:19we're going to validate
33:20our existence
33:21you know
33:21everybody had been talking
33:22about B-52s
33:23going away
33:23for years
33:23and years
33:24and years
33:24and now
33:24they're calling us in
33:26and saying
33:26hey we need somebody
33:27who can do the job
33:27and they
33:28ask the bus
33:29to go in
33:30and say
33:30okay we're going
33:30to get it done
33:31do our job
33:32get over with
33:32and go home.
33:44The first crews
33:46fly in at night
33:47and as low
33:48as 300 feet
33:49in hopes of slipping
33:50beneath the enemy radar net.
33:51we did have
33:57we did have buffs
33:57hit targets
33:59very close
34:00to downtown Baghdad.
34:05The triple A
34:06was just
34:06lighting up the sky.
34:08Luckily
34:08we were flying
34:08above most of it
34:09but they had
34:10some larger stuff
34:10that was able
34:11to reach up
34:11to our altitudes
34:12and then we had
34:13to do a pretty good
34:13amount of planning
34:14to stay away from that
34:15and keep a sharp eye
34:16out for it.
34:18So on the first night
34:19when weapons
34:20started falling
34:20from the aircraft
34:21it was the first time
34:22any of us
34:22had ever dropped
34:23a completely full
34:24internal and external
34:25load of weapons
34:25and it seemed
34:26to take forever.
34:27We're sitting there
34:27watching the little
34:28bomb release light
34:29flicker just going
34:30and going
34:31and going
34:31and going
34:31and going
34:32and when it was
34:34ended Ricky
34:34looked at me
34:35and we gave each other
34:36a high five
34:36and pretty much
34:37universal
34:38everybody said
34:38let's get the hell
34:39out of here
34:39and go
34:40you're feeling
34:43very pumped up
34:43very alive
34:44at that point
34:45you want to stay
34:45that way
34:46as far as
34:48not being on the ground
34:50a lot of people
34:50say it's not personal
34:51well when you see
34:52Sam's and
34:53AAA 88
34:54and 105mm
34:55coming at you
34:56it gets pretty personal
34:57it's my butt
34:59sitting here
34:59and they're shooting
35:00at me
35:00I have no doubt
35:03we can do
35:03whatever we want to
35:04wherever we want to
35:05whenever we want to
35:07but there's no reason
35:09to have somebody
35:10be a POW killed
35:11I don't think
35:13there's any doubt
35:14about it
35:14the Iraqi defenses
35:15were the toughest
35:16any air force
35:17has ever penetrated
35:18but the importance
35:22of being able
35:23to project power
35:23from the United States
35:24which the 52s did
35:25the first night
35:26of the war
35:27bringing the air launch
35:28cruise missiles in
35:29when we needed
35:30to hit a lot of targets
35:31right at once
35:31was very important
35:33and the day in
35:34and day out
35:35pounding
35:35that the 52
35:36was able to inflict
35:37on the Iraqi army
35:38in particular
35:39was very important
35:40there's a lot
35:43of anecdotal
35:43information
35:44that said the 52s
35:45were fundamental
35:46to the psychological
35:47warfare campaign
35:48we used
35:49to destroy
35:49the Iraqi morale
35:50flying around the clock
36:06strikes
36:0652s concentrate
36:08on Iraq's
36:09Republican Guard
36:09the mission rate
36:11is intense
36:11on average
36:12bombers arrive
36:13over enemy positions
36:15every hour and a half
36:16for five straight weeks
36:18the CIA estimates
36:22that as many
36:23as 150,000 Iraqis
36:25die in the war
36:26most perish
36:28in the onslaught
36:29from above
36:30it's a target
36:34it's a mission
36:34you've got to get done
36:35I don't particularly
36:37like having to kill
36:38people
36:39but if someone's
36:40threatening the United
36:40States or one of our
36:41allies
36:41that's our job
36:43a lot of people
36:49want to measure
36:50the effectiveness
36:51of the B-52s
36:52in their attacks
36:52against say
36:53the Republican Guards
36:54I think the answer
36:56is they were
36:56very effective
36:57and you got it
36:59from the prisoners
36:59of war
37:00after the war
37:00one guy said
37:01the B-52s
37:03absolutely destroyed
37:04the morale
37:05of my unit
37:05and they said
37:05were you hit by them
37:06and he said
37:07no I wasn't
37:08but I visited
37:08a unit that was
37:09I don't know
37:11what the hell
37:11to do with these guys
37:12look at all the bombs
37:14the B-52s dropped
37:15destroying the Iraqi
37:16morale
37:17what was that worth
37:19in terms of lives
37:21of our soldiers
37:22that were saved
37:23because those Iraqi
37:24soldiers surrendered
37:24rather than shot
37:26in six weeks
37:36it is nearly over
37:37Saddam's vaunted army
37:39disintegrates beneath
37:40American air power
37:41by the time
37:42the ground war
37:43is launched
37:44it is apparent
37:44that the promises
37:45made by the advocates
37:46of strategic air power
37:48will by and large
37:49be kept
37:50today's mission
37:57was a
37:57what we call
37:58preaching
37:59went against
38:00a minefield
38:01on the Kuwait
38:02Saudi border
38:04why
38:04mission was to
38:06drop our weapons
38:07cross a minefield
38:09to open a gap
38:10and it
38:10that can be later
38:11used for our troops
38:13to cross
38:13and also
38:15to allow
38:16deserters
38:17and refugees
38:18from the other side
38:19over
38:19using B-52s
38:22to clear a path
38:23through enemy
38:23trench works
38:24and minefields
38:25is never really
38:26successful
38:27the cratered landscape
38:28that the bombers
38:29leave in their wake
38:30often proves
38:31unpassable
38:32to American
38:33ground units
38:34as you can see
38:49today's mission
38:50was broad daylight
38:51third VFR
38:53and we had
38:53no threats up
38:54so that'll give you
38:56some idea
38:57of the command
38:57of the air
38:58we have at this point
38:59at the start
39:00it wasn't quite
39:01that nice
39:01bomber crews
39:06do not come
39:06through the war
39:07unscathed
39:08early on
39:09engine failure
39:10claims a stratofortress
39:11on final approach
39:13of the six on board
39:15three ejects
39:16safely
39:16three
39:17perish
39:18later a B-52
39:20is struck by two
39:21surface-to-air missiles
39:22miraculously
39:23its crew survives
39:25it was just a
39:29mission to cut
39:31a rail intersection
39:32to block
39:33any possible
39:34retreat of the
39:35Republican Guards
39:36up near the
39:37Basra area
39:38about a minute
39:39and a half
39:39after the target
39:40is when we first
39:41got the indication
39:41that there was
39:42some surface-to-air
39:44missile threats
39:45in the area
39:45the Iraqis
39:47had gotten
39:47pretty smart
39:48and they did not
39:48turn their radars
39:49on for any length
39:51of time
39:51what I think
39:53happened was
39:53that they had
39:54highlighted the first
39:55two aircraft
39:56that had gone by
39:56to try to get
39:57some information
39:58as far as
39:58aspith and altitude
39:59and then when
40:01the third ship
40:01came by
40:02they highlighted
40:03again just momentarily
40:04and fired off
40:05the salvo
40:05of at least
40:06four missiles
40:07that we're aware
40:07of and possibly
40:09five
40:09the thing that
40:11probably helped
40:12us the most
40:13was that
40:13early in the war
40:14I learned
40:15that you don't
40:15follow the aircraft
40:16in front of you
40:16so we were offset
40:17quite a bit
40:18from that aircraft
40:19it was a classic
40:21SA-2 engagement
40:22the same type of thing
40:24we trained for
40:24back in the states
40:25on our missions
40:26and on our simulators
40:27I notified the crew
40:29immediately
40:29began the countermeasures
40:31against it
40:32everything was pretty much
40:33uneventful
40:34up until
40:35Bob's way
40:36the airplane
40:37shuttered
40:37like we were
40:38releasing another weapon
40:39the radar navigator
40:41and I confirmed
40:42that all the weapons
40:43were off
40:43so nothing was hanging
40:44at that point
40:46we knew
40:47we'd taken
40:47at least one hit
40:48it was followed
40:49very quickly
40:49by a second
40:50shutter
40:51we knew
40:52we'd taken
40:52the second hit
40:53suddenly the rest
40:54of the crew
40:55started reporting
40:55the damage
40:56and loss
40:57of systems
40:57on the airplane
40:58we kind of realized
41:00that the situation
41:01was really
41:01deteriorating rapidly
41:02quickly checked
41:04my personal equipment
41:05tightened up
41:06my parachute
41:06tighter
41:07than it already was
41:08got my helmet
41:08cinched down tighter
41:10and basically
41:11in my mind
41:13reviewed
41:13the ejection procedures
41:15the wounded bomber
41:17spewing fuel
41:18from shrapnel
41:19hits along its wing
41:20is nursed home
41:22by its crew
41:23my biggest concern
41:31was the structural
41:33integrity
41:34of the wings
41:34of this aircraft
41:35as you know
41:37it's built
41:37so that the fuel
41:38provides most
41:39of the structural
41:39ability in that wing
41:41and with that
41:42going out pretty quickly
41:43I was concerned
41:44about lowering
41:45the flaps
41:45when we did get
41:47down on the ground
41:47and the wings
41:48flexed down
41:49as they do
41:50when we slow down
41:51the number one
41:52main tank
41:52began to empty out
41:53at a very excessive rate
41:54and we stopped
41:57the aircraft
41:58and the firemen
41:58came in
41:59and they hosed it down
42:00and plugged the leak
42:01I think I'll
42:12personally send
42:12a thank you note
42:13to Mr. Boeing
42:14who designed
42:14this airplane
42:15because it held
42:16together really well
42:17I wasn't too concerned
42:23about the situation
42:24until I read
42:25the mainest report
42:25of all the near misses
42:26and the possible damage
42:29that could have been done
42:30and the over 65 holes
42:32that were in the airplane
42:33when I saw that
42:34then I wished
42:35I could have had
42:35a cold drink
42:36of some kind
42:37the B-52
42:53is going to be around
42:53for a long time
42:54it's possible
42:56it could be our last bomber
42:57and it would certainly
42:59be a fitting tribute
42:59if no more bombers
43:00were required
43:01when the B-52
43:02went out of service
43:03there's a joke
43:07with the B-52
43:08that when the last B-2
43:09goes to Davis-Monthan
43:10for storage
43:11the crew will be picked up
43:12by a B-52
43:13when it does retire
43:17Sack's long rifle
43:18will best be remembered
43:20for the nuclear mission
43:21it never flew
43:22and for the thousands
43:24of trips
43:25it made over
43:25a tiny Asian nation
43:27some 30 years ago
43:29when I first went
43:32to the wall
43:32it was very very difficult
43:33I couldn't go down there
43:34without breaking off
43:35it's very very
43:37emotionally
43:38there's a lot of names
43:39down there
43:40of people
43:40of really good people
43:41very good friends
43:42that I used to fly with
43:43used to raise came with
43:45and used to live with
43:46be with
43:47the gunner was
43:50in the tail
43:51of the aircraft
43:51Charlie Poole
43:52we don't know
43:53what happened to him
43:53the navigator
43:56Dick Cooper
43:57who was sitting
43:58downstairs next to
43:59the radar navigator
43:59again
44:00I have no idea
44:01what happened
44:01we never saw them
44:02again
44:03we asked about them
44:05and we were always
44:07given well
44:08there's many people
44:08up here
44:09we don't know
44:09who all we have
44:10etc. etc. etc.
44:11but we have
44:12no idea
44:14none of us
44:14to what happened
44:15to him
44:16to this day
44:17we'll see you next to him
44:18and we'll see you next to him
Recommended
56:37
|
Up next
46:55
7:50
46:13
54:01
57:53
47:27
45:23
36:05
48:52
46:14