Message posted by Magoo on December 12, 2001 at 15:39:14 PST:
The B-1 is no longer configured for carrying Nukes. This was one of the terms of the START treaty of the early 90’s. It is now configured for carrying conventional weapons only. The range and speed of the BONE combined with the massive load it can carry make it an excellent strategic conventional bombing platform. Besides as Zipper said, the BUFFs are getting a little tired now and it’s probably wise to spread the workload around throughout the fleet, rather than running the BUFFs into the ground. The BONE cost a fortune to develop, and then another fortune to convert it from a nuke carrier to be able to deliver the wide range of conventional weapons it now carries. The DoD are talking about parking 30 of them in the desert next year, and then using the funds saved from doing this to keep the other 60-odd flying. There is almost certainly a big element of truth in this being another reason why it was deployed, so it can show what it can do. BTW – I heard the crew got out safely, and it may have been a system failure that led to the ditching of the aircraft, rather than as a result of any enemy fire. Magoo
In Reply to: Re: B-1? posted by gary on December 12, 2001 at 12:59:43 PST:
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