Patrolling the skies for 50 years in the world's most long-lived bomber: Air Force captain pilots a B-52 - just like his father and GRANDFATHER
For Air Force Captain David 'Swoop' Welsh, flying the legendary B-52 bomber is a family tradition.
The 28-year-old pilot is the third generation to fly the half-century-old aircraft; his father, retired Lt. Col. Don Welch, was trained to drop nuclear bombs from the B-52 during the Cold War, and his grandfather, retired Col. Don Sprague, flew B-52 combat missions in Vietnam.
And a new contract worth up to $11.9 billion is set to upgrade the loyal bomber into the 21st century, meaning a few more generations of Welsh pilots could sit in the cockpit yet.
Lawmakers argued in 1977 that the B-52 should be replaced by a model called the B-1 because the aircraft was 'older than the pilots flying it.' But while those pilots have retired, the aircraft is still going strong.
The B-52 began production in 1952 and stopped in 1962 and has defied the actuarial tables. The Air Force expects the latest improvements to keep the plane in the air until around 2040.
In the 1980s: Lieutenant Welch's father, retired Lt. Col. Don Welch, bottom right, poses with the crew of his B-52D in 1985
Vietnam bomber: David Welch's grandfather, retired Col. Don Sprague, pictured center in 1962, poses in front of a B-47 just before he started flying the B-52
Granted, Welsh's bomber isn't exactly the same as when his grandfather was fighting with his comrades over the jungles of Vietnam.
While there are 'dials in the B-52 cockpit that have not been connected to anything for years,' the plane has been upgraded with new engines and electronics over the years to ensure it continues to perform.
However, the current computers are only as advanced as the original PCs from the early 1980s.
According to the Times, bombing information has to be uploaded before a mission and cannot be changed once the aircraft is in the sky.
The upcoming overhaul will see it get 'modern digital display screens, computer network servers and real-time communication uplinks.'
Pilots will soon be able to send and receive information via satellite links, allowing them to change mission plans, re-target weapons and converse with ground forces.
The B-52 was originally designed to deliver nuclear bombs onto targets in the Soviet Union.
It was then used to 'carpet-bomb' communist positions in Vietnam, carrying up to 81 500-lb. bombs.
The aircraft was supposed to soar above anti-aircraft fire, but when the Soviets developed missiles that could reach high altitudes, the B-52 was adapted for low-altitude penetrating missions.
When the enemy's technology advanced to foil those missions, the plane became a platform for nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
It ran crucial missions in Kosovo and the Middle East, and if the US decides to launch an attack on Syria, the B-52 may well be the aircraft for the job, albeit using GPS-guided smart bombs and bunker-busting munitions.
Vietnam: This 03 Apr 1967 picture shows an Air Force B-52 Stratofortress unloading tons of bombs on enemy stongholds in South Vietnam
Still going strong: The same bombers, albeit with numerous upgrades, are flying today in an effort to defend the US
The main reason the Pentagon keeps relying on the decades-old bomber is its relatively low cost.
According to Reason.com, the high price tags on the B-1 and the B-2 Stealth bomber mean the Air Force can't buy as many of them and is more reluctant to put them in harm's way.
The hulking plane -nicknamed B.U.F., Big, Ugly and Fat, is also perfectly adequate for most real-world contingencies.
MIT defense scholar Owen Cote told the website that since the 1990s, the |US has 'been essentially continuously at war against smaller powers with weak or nonexistent air defenses, against whom the range, persistence and versatile payloads of the B-52 can be invaluable.'
No comments:
Post a Comment