Posted on 03/31/2026 9:44:39 AM PDT by BradtotheBone
The U.S. has deployed B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the skies over Iran for the first time since Operation Epic Fury began, Pentagon officials say.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine made the announcement Tuesday morning during a press conference alongside War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Caine said the U.S. and Israel have dismantled Iran's air fighting capability to such an extent that the lumbering bombers can now operate safely in the region.
"Given the increase in air superiority, we've successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us, as we've said before, to continue to get on top of the enemy," Caine said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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Worked with a guy who flew them from North Dakota to Vietnam and he said it was one of the most tedious jobs he ever had.
Sounds a little kinky, is that still called the Missionary Position?
More like what an Alpha dog would say.
Rolling Thunder 2.0 - don’t stop this time
A B-52 Stratofortress is capable not just of bombing the shiite out of things, but it also can instill monumental fear in those on the ground. It’s a hell of a plane. Much respect.
That’s a hall of a long drive for any aircraft, much less a “lumbering” B-52.
Fuel load at a maximum presumably!
“Given the increase in air superiority, we’ve successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us, as we’ve said before, to continue to get on top of the enemy,” Caine said. If you can keep them flying you’re certainly going to get on top of the enemy.
Yeah but you can smuggle a lot of dope to the States in one. I worked with a guy who was a former navigator in Vietnam.
Do they have bomb shelters in Iran?
I know. 😏
Sipping my pina colada in Margaritaville.
I’m translating this to mean that it wasn’t safe to fly them previously. Just my guess though. I’m sure there are those here who could elaborate or disagree. These bombers are neither stealth nor fast an agile, so you wouldn’t risk them until you had air superiority as well and SAM sites?
You think it might be a good idea?
We are basing our high value large aircraft in vulnerable areas in the Middle East at least in part because several NATO countries have refused to cooperate with basing US aircraft on airfields where the US has propositioned weapons. .
Depends on what you mean by “bomb” and what you mean by “shelter” ... and whether you mean “have” or “had”.
We’re getting very good at defeating facilities whose designers intended them to be “shelters”.
Pile Driver with a Houdini Finish.
and Arc Light. Check out the pic at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Arc_Light
The bombs will have to be replaced but it’s no big deal. They were sitting in warehouses and had to be disposed of. Might as well drop them on an enemy and update with new ones.
B-52’s are not stealthy, in Iran their value is they can circle for hours and hours, with aerial refueling
, they can stay up longer. They can carry around 70K lbs of ordnance. Each bomb can be fitted with a guidance kit, they can drop one at a time, and each one can be individually targeted. The 52 can just circle, waiting for the latest intel to service the next target. Can be intel from ground observer, surveillance drones, or satellites
If the B-52s can operate with impunity over Iran, it would make it very difficult for the conventional Iranian army if they are inclined to deploy and oppose a ground invasion. However the first order of business will be for the Navy to remove the mines in and under the Persian Gulf so that the support ships and necessary logistics could operate.
Suspect this is far more than Trump expected would be necessary. Yet if at the end of hostilities the regime, however weakened, remains in power and the uranium is not secured, the war will have only temporarily delayed Iran’s threat to the world and Israel and the US in particular.
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