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1 [1] (March 17, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/usstgcbmbs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Conressona esacSrve S March 17, 2025 U.S. Strategic Bombers The U.S. Air Force deploys three strategic (or heavy) bombers-the B-52, B-1B, and B-2-to carry bombs or air- to-surface missiles for conventional and nuclear missions. Bombers carry heavy ordnance loads across long distances, for long periods of time, to strike adversary targets of tactical and strategic importance. The Air Force is also developing a new B-21 strategic bomber as the next- generation stealth aircraft to conduct nuclear missions and as a component of a conventional family of systems including electronic attack, communications, and other systems. Congress authorizes and appropriates funds for, and conducts oversight of, Department of Defense (DOD) and Air Force development, acquisition, maintenance, and manning of the U.S. bomber fleet, as well as the nuclear weapons carried by these aircraft. Conventional and Nuclear Missions The role of bombers has evolved over time. During World War II, the United States developed new bomber types and produced tens of thousands of bombers. A combined conventional bomber offensive with the United Kingdom from 1942 to 1945 aimed to destroy the German military industrial and economic system. In August 1945, on the orders of U.S. President Harry Truman, U.S. B-29 heavy bombers delivered the only nuclear weapons ever used in combat on targets in Japan. During the Cold War, reports about Soviet bomber prowess spurred the United States to increase defense spending and build up its bomber fleet. Today, bombers are an essential component of one of the U.S. Air Force's core conventional functions: air superiority, or the degree of control of an airspace that allows for operations without interference from adversarial air and missile threats. Bombers aid the air superiority mission by providing the ability to carry out long-range precision strike. The 2022 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), a periodic congressionally mandated review of U.S. nuclear policies, reaffirmed bombers as an integral part of the U.S. nuclear triad that also includes long-range land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and long-range submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The 2018 NPR stated that heavy bombers are the most flexible and visible leg of the triad. The 2010 NPR stated that heavy bombers can be visibly forward deployed, thereby signaling U.S. resolve and commitment in crisis. The United States has periodically stationed bombers in allied countries, conducted continuous patrols, or maintained bombers on alert status. In 2018, Air Force Global Strike Command began Bomber Task Force deployments, which involve bomber flights to allied nations around the world to take part in patrols and exercises to assure allies and deter adversaries. Since 2020, the command has refined the use of Agile Combat Employment of bombers to expand the number of bases from which bombers can operate, to include demonstrating the ability to land at civilian airfields. The US. Strategic Bomber Fleet B-52 Stratofortress The B-52, which entered service in 1955, is a long-range heavy bomber that can fly 8,800 miles without refueling. Known as the Stratofortress, the B-52 can conduct conventional and nuclear bombing missions (or, it is dual- capable), offensive counter-air operations, and maritime surveillance and mine-laying operations. The B-52 can carry 70,000 lb. of ordnance. Boeing built 744 B-52s, delivering the last H-model B-52 in 1962, and the Air Force plans to extend the life of the remaining 74 aircraft into the 2040s. The aircraft are based at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and Minot AFB in North Dakota. According to DOD, 46 B-52 aircraft are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. These nuclear-capable B-52s are equipped to carry air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) armed with the W80-1 warhead. The Air Force has stated that it is planning to replace the aging ALCMs with a new advanced Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile. The Air Force noted its plans to buy 1,087 missiles and has included $834 million for the development of the LRSO in its FY2025 budget request. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is extending the life of the W80 warhead to provide a warhead for the LRSO. NNSA requested $1.2 billion for this W80-4 life extension program (LEP) in its FY2025 budget request. The FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (P.L. 118-159) fully funds the LRSO and the W80-4 LEP. Section 1626 of the law permits the Air Force to reconvert for nuclear missions B-52 bombers that were modified to carry out conventional-only missions in accordance with the U.S.-Russian 2010 New START Treaty and mandates an Air Force report on the cost of a one-third increase in the LRSO planned purchase. The Air Force is in the midst of two B-52 upgrade projects. The B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) seeks to create a new version of the aircraft-the B-52J-with eight Rolls Royce F-130 engines. The service anticipates modernizing 51 B-52s by FY2032 and the remaining 23 aircraft in FY2033. The B-52 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) is testing updates to the B- 52 radar system so it will track moving surface and air targets. According to DOD, improved data analytics are helping with hypersonic weapons tracking. https://crsreport

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