U.S. B-52 bombers could start dropping their heavy payloads on ISIS targets as soon as April, the Air Force revealed, giving B-1 bombers in the Central Command area of operations a break.
Military officials haven't made public how many B-52s could be used or the number of airmen accompanying them, but Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said on Monday that the big planes are prepared to move in, said the
Air Force Times.
It would be first time B-52 bombers would be deployed in the fight against the Islamic State, but they have been used in bombing missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"While the B-1s will be receiving much needed modernization and maintenance, the venerable B-52, with its similar capacity and accuracy and endurance, remains ready and able to meet combatant commander requirements," James said at a briefing.
"Now, we're waiting for final approval, but there have been recent infrastructure improvements that now allow the necessary support to deploy the B-52 in theater," James added.
Air Force magazine reported late last month that the last of the B-1B Lancers returned to the United States in January, citing to Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command.
Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, the commander of Air Forces Central Command that oversees the air war for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said the B-1s will return to fighting ISIS in the summer after receiving their upgrades.
B-52's, which have been around since the 1950s, were designed to be high-altitude, long-range nuclear bombers that could strike the Soviet Union, noted
CNN. The hulking airplanes that can carry up to 70,000 pounds of bombs, mines, and missiles, have been updated with precision-guided missiles, high-tech sensors and electronics since the last one came into service in 1962.
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