Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 8/7/84; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!medin From: medin@ucbvax.ARPA (Milo Medin) Newsgroups: net.aviation Subject: Re: Re: More on B-1 vs B-52 Message-ID: <2514@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Sat, 13-Oct-84 16:49:46 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.2514 Posted: Sat Oct 13 16:49:46 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 14-Oct-84 08:34:25 EDT References: <3220@rabbit.UUCP> Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 30 Come on now, SLBM's taking 15 minutes to hit? No way. If you fly them the usual way, we are talking 8-10 minutes. The closer to the coast you are, the shorter the flight time, and guess where most of our bomber bases are? Also, the Russians have been testing their SLBM's in something called 'depressed trajectory mode'. Now here, the missile doesnt go way up and fall down, but it 'bores' through the atmosphere. In case case, we are talking flight times in terms of 2-4 minutes, with sacrifices in range. Roger Speed, in his book, 'Strategic Weapons of the 80's' makes a good point about just how vulerable our bomber force is. Read it. Now, a B-52, which is part of the alert force (ie is armed) and the crew given a bit of warning, can be ready for takeoff in about 10 minutes. But, you have to get the whole wing airborne (another 3 minutes assuming ~15 second seperation and NO mechanical failures in getting to full thrust), but, and this is important, you have to get far enough away from the base so that you arent destroyed by the blast wave or thermal pulse. That probably takes about 3 minutes too. So you still lose. As for keeping some planes in the air continuously, (the airborne alert force), that program was cancelled during the Carter administration because it was putting too many hours on the airframe (maintainance was eating you alive) and it was using too much fuel. So today, we have no aircraft on airborne alert, and only 1/3 of the B-52 force (all of which are counted under SALT, but thats another story) are even armed at a given time. So it all goes back to what I said before, kiss the B-52's goodbye. Milo