Enduringly Useful

Sometimes when designing military airplanes aeronautical engineers develop types that are so well-crafted that their careers last far longer than intended. There are several examples of that currently in use by the U.S. military. The most notable is the B-52.

Originally designed in the 1950s as a platform to deliver U.S. nuclear weapons, the bomber has had such a varied and successful career that it has become a virtual fixture in the U.S. Air Force arsenal. Air Force war planners keep coming up with new roles for big bomber and for several generations the Boeing-built Stratofortress has become the veritable symbol of U.S. military power.

With its muscular profile the big bomber stands as a sentinel, protecting U.S. interests around the world, instantly ready to support U.S. troops with devastating close-air support.

Its first role was filling the Strategic Air Command’s (SAC) need for a manned platform capable of penetrating Soviet air space and putting thermonuclear weapons on target. The dedicated and professional SAC air and ground crews who sacrificed so much to keep the bombers flying and ready played an incredibly important role during the Cold War by deterring the unthinkable: a nuclear war. Although not a B-52 pilot, my uncle Capt. Joseph Ivins was an Air Force pilot who died in 1962 flying a classified Cold War mission. His sacrifice is an poignant example of the toll endured by all those who served during the Cold War to keep the United States safe.

The B-52 was first adapted to a different role during the Vietnam War. The bomber was modified to carry and deliver conventional bombs in tactical missions throughout North and South Vietnam. Its versatility was demonstrated by its use in close support of U.S. infantry in contact with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops.

It is impossible to imagine the horror experienced by Vietnamese troops on the receiving end of B-52 tactical missions. Flying high above the clouds bombardiers dropped hundreds of 500-pound gravity bombs on precise targets. Sometimes the bombs landed in uninhabited forests. But sometimes they caught Vietnamese soldiers unaware of what awaited them until the bombs began exploding in their midst. U.S. infantry sent to conduct bomb-assessment missions were forced to witness scenes of unimaginable and unforgettable horror.

General William Westmoreland notably called on the bombers to support U.S. Marines under attack at Khe Sanh in 1968. The B-52 played a critical role in Westmoreland’s plan to lure NVA units into concentrations around the Khe Sanh Combat Base where he then could use U.S. air power to obliterate them. Undoubtedly U.S. bombers of all types annihilated many NVA troops, and the Marines heroically defended the combat base and its tactically critical surrounding hills.

But despite the devastating losses at Khe Sanh and elsewhere in South Vietnam during 1968, the North Vietnamese regrouped and continued their fight to unite Vietnam under communist rule. Eventually the North Vietnamese communists outlasted the United States’ will to defend the Republic of South Vietnam, but not before the B-52 was called upon again to enforce U.S. policy.

President Richard Nixon’s envoys negotiated a treaty in 1972, but the North Vietnamese backed away from some tenants of the deal in December. With a massive mandate under his belt following his landslide re-election, President Nixon advised Air Force war planners to take off the gloves and use B-52s in tactical missions on targets in North Vietnam.

The result was Linebacker II and the Christmas Bombing of 1972. Waves of B-52 bombers launched from Anderson Air Force base in Guam pounded tactical targets in North Vietnam with devastating effect. U.S. prisoners of war in Hanoi heard the bombs detonating and cheers resounded throughout the Hanoi Hilton compound. Many beatings resulted. U.S. POWs, mostly Air Force and Navy pilots, knew what was happening and they then knew that the United States had not forgotten them.

Using Soviet-supplied radar and surface-to-air (SAM) missiles the North Vietnamese skillfully shot down several B-52s. But Air Force tacticians responded with new tactics and the pummeling continued. The North Vietnamese soon returned to the table and the war finally stopped for the United States. The B-52 had again proved its incredible usefulness.

Since then, B-52s have been modified to carry radar-guided weapons and have been extremely effective in tactical support roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the first Gulf War, flying after Iraqi air defenses had been destroyed the B-52s obliterated Iraqi troop concentrations with low-level saturation bombing. B-52s also pounded retreating Taliban forces in Afghanistan with JDAMs. The bombers effectiveness surely saved the lives of possibly hundreds of U.S. and allied ground forces.

Boeing continues to support the B-52 and the bomber’s role in Air Force planning continues, adding to its already impressive resume.

It is impossible to measure the bomber’s incredible impact on U.S. policy during the past 70 years, but Boeing engineers can certainly be proud of their contribution to the defense of the United States.