B-52 ACCIDENT OFFERS GRAPHIC REMINDER OF NEED FOR MORE B-2’S AND A VIABLE BOMBER INDUSTRIAL BASE

(Washington, D.C.): Last evening, it became abundantly
clear just how absurd are statements being made by the Clinton
Administration, some Members of Congress and the editorial boards
of the New York Times and the Washington Post to
the effect that the United States has all the long-range bombers
it needs: At roughly 6:00 p.m., a thirty-five-year-old B-52
bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base experienced the failure
of one engine and the loss of two others when a pod to which they
were mounted fell off the aircraft.

Worse yet, the bomber was obliged to continue flying in
that disabled condition for a further six hours because it was
not equipped with a system that would allow it to jettison fuel
and the plane cannot be safely landed with a gross weight of
260,000 pounds (of which 185,000 is associated with the plane
itself). Such systems are standard equipment on modern
aircraft.

Fortunately, this particular incident did not result in
catastrophe; to its considerable credit, the crew safely landed
their aircraft. It is unclear at this writing what caused the
engine outage and the pod failure. It is to be sincerely hoped
that they do not arise from systemic problems that may affect the
future viability of the 95 B-52s. After all, these planes
represent the only manned bombers in the U.S. inventory currently
configured to perform both conventional and nuclear
missions.

What should be obvious, however, is that the United States
is taking a very grave risk assuming that it can rely
indefinitely on aircraft as old as the B-52s. While the
airframes may theoretically have many years of life on them and
enormous sums have been invested over the years to upgrade and
maintain them, the unalterable fact of life is that the sorts
of accidents experienced last evening — or far worse — can only
multiply as it becomes ever more difficult and expensive to
maintain the B-52 force. In fact, such considerations have
long prompted Pentagon planners to urge the retirement of these
aircraft.

In the absence of manned bombers able to replace the
substantial power- projection capability offered by the B-52s — to
say nothing of greatly enhancing that capability — the
result of such a retirement would leave the United States wholly
unable to perform air combat operations that even the Clinton
“Bottom-Up Review” described as necessary.

The Bottom Line

The Center for Security Policy urges both the Clinton
Administration and Members of Congress to regard yesterday’s
accident as a wake-up call: The Nation requires more than twenty
B-2 bombers and the viable bomber production line that only such
additional acquisition will allow it affordably to retain.