“Aah, the B-1ski”
It’s bigger, faster, has a longer range, and carries more payload than the B-1.
This is a formadible weapon, could launch from Venezuela and launch stealthy cruise missles from the Gulf of Mexico, and the first warning would be the mushroom clouds over Houston, Miami, Columbus Air Force Base (MS — maybe get warning here) and the like.
So, how long do we wait before taking these bombers out?
last airframe was delivered in 1992. Electromechanical cockpit. crew of 4.
it’s specs, like a Russian athlete’s resume, are better than its performance.
no evidence of a Mod X to improve RCS.
potent but very killable, and we’ll see if all the support logistics follow the visit. Betcha they can’t beat 50% combat readiness flying out of south american base- with 24 hours between sorties, minimum.
if they put a fully deployed squadron there, THEN consider it a threat. for now it is a weak tweak.
JMO
Russia would never attempt using their military against the U.S. on our own soil, the Cold War taught us that. A mushroom cloud over a U.S. city, caused by a Russian aricraft or missile, would mean that Russia would effectively cease to exist. Whoever lived through the U.S. response would have to move to Siberia, because that's all that would be left of Russia.
That said, Washington should none-the-less do whatever possible to keep Russia in a third-world economic state. Russians are a belligerent, back-stabbing, untrusworthy, dangerous people who need to be kept in check.