World Affairs Board - View Single Post - Bring Back The Iowa Class Discussion And Debate

Anon · 06-13-2005, 01:48 AM

OK, i did some more research on the B-52H harpoon capability.

This is what i found:

When the G's were retired 19 B-52Hs were modified to embark 8 Harpoons each. I could find nothing about the capability being withdrawn from service, so for the sake of argument, we'll assume they weren't...at least for now.

Given the B-52Hs mission readiness rate of 80.5%, that means on average no more than 15 B-52s will be available at any one time for ASuW duties, and those 15 bombers have a global requirement.

What is clear however is that the USNs institutional paranoia has led them to whine about the USAF 'intruding upon long established USN missions', which has prevented the USAF from gaining any support in congress for enhancing it's own ASuW capabilities beyond that of AMRAAM and a few old heavy bombers that are already tasked out the wazoo with myriad other mission requirements.

Of all the services, the USN is by far the most aggravating to study or try to understand.

06-13-2005, 01:48 AM	#155 (permalink)
Anon New Member Join Date: 08-03-03 Posts: 0	OK, i did some more research on the B-52H harpoon capability. This is what i found: When the G's were retired 19 B-52Hs were modified to embark 8 Harpoons each. I could find nothing about the capability being withdrawn from service, so for the sake of argument, we'll assume they weren't...at least for now. Given the B-52Hs mission readiness rate of 80.5%, that means on average no more than 15 B-52s will be available at any one time for ASuW duties, and those 15 bombers have a global requirement. What is clear however is that the USNs institutional paranoia has led them to whine about the USAF 'intruding upon long established USN missions', which has prevented the USAF from gaining any support in congress for enhancing it's own ASuW capabilities beyond that of AMRAAM and a few old heavy bombers that are already tasked out the wazoo with myriad other mission requirements. Of all the services, the USN is by far the most aggravating to study or try to understand. Last edited by Anon : 06-13-2005 at 03:06 AM.