Posted on 04/13/2024 7:47:38 AM PDT by george76
The US Air Force has 140 of its biggest warplanes – its heavy bombers – in active service: 76 Boeing B-52Hs, 44 Boeing B-1Bs and 20 B-2 stealth bombers built by Northrop Grumman.
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Any other air force might content itself with 140 bombers and redistribute the lost bomber’s operating budget. But the US Air Force is counting on the B-1 to play a lead role in a possible air war over the Taiwan Strait. It’s such a high priority that the service is spending millions of dollars recovering, from long-term storage, a surplus B-1 nicknamed “Lancelot” that’s been sitting in desert storage, aka “the Boneyard”, for three years.
This is an operation the Air Force has done just three times in recent decades. Besides the B-1, the service returned to flying status two stored B-52s – one in 2020 and another in 2015 – in order to replace bombers that it lost to accidents.
Recovering from storage a machine as complex as a bomber is hard, expensive and time-consuming work. It can take hundreds of people working thousands of hours over a span of years and at a cost of millions of dollars.
That the Air Force is willing to make the investment speaks to the importance of the big, lumbering warplanes as the service positions itself to, among other contingencies, defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion fleet.
The four-engine, supersonic, swing-wing B-1 – crewed by four people and capable of carrying 37 tons of bombs and missiles over intercontinental distances – is the Air Force’s main anti-ship platform. It can carry 24 of the service’s best cruise missiles, including its Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles, or LRASMs.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Now these are not the same quality as true American-made tools, but they are a close second.
Next, think about what the war in Ukraine has taught us. Cheap drones and only semi-smart munitions can do 90+% of what our expensive ones can do. Of course our military targets are harder than Russian ones, and cheap drones/munitions will not work as well as against Russians. But what about when China uses their "cheap" munitions against undefended US cities? Against shipping into US ports? Remember, the winners of a war never go on trial for "war crimes". Now think about salaries in China vs. in the US, especially military salaries.
If I had to guess, it would be that $1 of military spending in China is the functional equivalent of $5 of military spending in the US, maybe even more.
So, recalibrate that chart you show, multiplying every $1 spent by the Chinese as $5 spent by the US, and they are either close to the US or maybe even ahead.
And, they don't have Joe Biden at the helm. That easily doubles their effectiveness.
B-58 Hustler. It had some issues but could easily top mach 2.
This is an admission that our carriers are obsolete. If they get within range to launch, they’re within range of Chinese or Iranian or Russian hypersonic missiles. Our Aegis System will be just as useless as our Patriots have been defending against them.
Just last night I had a dream where I was in some sort of large-group meeting. The question was “What might be the cause of WW III?”. I said “Biden”.
I have had dreams that came true before. Hopefully this thread is the only way my dream comes true.
Where are the B21’s??? I thought these were ready by now.
Nice Sim of B21’s attacking China here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa_FH-qM6IM
I have seen a B-1 fly down our canyon and it was anything but “lumbering”!! It was fast and loud and nimble! Scared the hell out of us too!
I think you are right.
Never knew that bit of trivia.
Biden is a puppet for a cartel of inept fools. They’d rather foment WW3 than change their idiotic policy.
I just read it again, you’re right. I take back my comment.
James Earl Jones was one of the crewmen on the Buff in that movie. Watch it again and listen for his voice. He was a very young man.
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