[Lokibob]

I understand you CAN do it, but why would you?

You design a mission with the correct tools. If anti-armor, you give the troops warthogs with hellfire missiles. You don't load up a B-52 with 250 lb bombs for ground support.

You can drive a screw into a wall with a hammer, but why? A screwdriver is designed to do that job.

[SauronOfMordor]

You don't load up a B-52 with 250 lb bombs for ground support.

The Air Force has been doing just that in Afghanistan and Iraq. The B-52 has some advantages: it can transport a LOT of bombs, loiter for a long time waiting for targets, and drop precision-laser-guided bombs one at a time on selected targets, with the option of the target being illuminated by a laser pointed by a grunt on the ground

And do this from an altitude that puts it well out of range of man-portable SAMs and ground fire, which were a big issue for our A-10's and copters in Iraq.

Over here is an article from an air force site about their plans for equipping large bombers with the ability to see and hit targets from high altitudes