The most effective bomber we have had in the last half century was the B-52. They are still in service today. Instead of redesigning the wheel, why not update and manufacture a new series of B-52 bombers?
Boeing doesn't entirely scrap effective aircraft every time they design a new jet for civilian markets they bring out an updated version of the 737, 747(until recently) and so on. Why should the military contractors do any differently.
When has the last B-52 been shot out of the sky by a belligerent, any one, Bueller, Bueller...
I am hesitant to accept the fact that an updated version of the B-52 or even B-2 would be less effective than a designed from scratch product.
Besides the would better spend their money on unmanned aircraft and non nuclear ICBM and missal technology. These could have more capabilities and less chance of losing operators to combat. There is no reason to believe that hundreds of unmanned aircraft can be produced and deployed with significantly less cost than even ONE newly designed manned platform. Add to that the added bonus of less pilot death and we may be looking at the wrong direction for our military.
When has the last B-52 been shot out of the sky by a belligerent, any one, Bueller, Bueller...
The snarky answer would be 31 B-52s lost in Vietnam.
The straight/serious answer to a fellow FReeper is because the B-52H is a woefully obsolete aircraft that is only viable against low-technology adversaries that do not have a cogent air defense network. Against such an adversary, the B-52H is an amazing bomb truck that, with JDAM technology, is akin to fire from heaven as far as Jihadis are concerned. However, against an adversary with an advanced integrated air defense system (IADS) the BUFF is simply a big, slow, helpless flying target.
People don't like to hear this, but the same applies to the A-10. Yes, it has a 'titanium bathtub,' and yes, it has a big @$$ cannon, but it requires sanitized airspace to operate in. Put it against an adversary that can actually fight back and, armor or not, A-10s are done. (During the Cold War the joke among A-10 and Apache pilots was which would suffer the most if the Soviets ever came through the Fulda Gap).
Anyway, while all of the US' adversaries in the last four plus decades have not been strong (the likes of Somalia, Iraq, Grenada, Bosnia, Panama, Libya, Afghanistan), and thus a B52 would work well there, there is always the chance that the US may operate against the likes of China or Russia. BUFFs, for all their myriad advantages (and they are a strong workhorse, together with the B-1 Bone), would be dead.