U.S Pacific Air Forces said in a statement that a B-52 Stratofortress bomber flew halfway
across the world to join two aircraft carriers in an exercise in the South China Sea.
The B-52 flew with strike fighters and electronic warfare jets from aircraft carriers USS Nimitz
and USS Ronald Reagan over the Pacific.
It is interesting to note that the U.S sent the two aircraft carrier to the region for
the first time since 2014.
The bomber was from the 96th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing and was based out of Barksdale
Air Force Base, La.
PACAF quoted squadron commander Lt. Col. Christopher Duff stated that the 28-hour mission was to
demonstrate “U.S. capability to rapidly deploy to a forward-operating base and execute
long-range strike missions”
Duff added, “This sortie demonstrates our ability to
reach out from home station, fly anywhere in the world and execute those missions, rapidly
regenerate from a forward operating base and continue operations,”
As per the Associated Press, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the
exercises were performed "totally out of ulterior motives" and undermined stability in the area.
He added, "Against such a backdrop, the U.S. deliberately dispatched massive forces to
conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea
to flex its military muscle,”
Florida Rep. Ted Yoho, a senior Republican member for the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
said while discussing said, “They can't compete with us on that, and
they know that,”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how the U.S is sending a strong message to China
by sending a B 52 bomber in the south China Sea?
Let’s get started.
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China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea through its so-called nine-dash line map.
It says that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the sea.
The wide-reaching demarcation which was rejected by an arbitral tribunal at The Hague in July
2016.
Several countries which include Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan
have disputed these claims.
The route is significant as about $5 trillion in trade through shipping passes each year.
The sea also has alleged 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
China has tried imposing a unilateral decision as per which all ships must ask for permission
to sail within 12 nautical miles of the islands’ shores.
Chinese Navy has heckled vessels of smaller nations like Vietnam several times in the
last couple of years.
Countries like the U.S, India, Japan & Australia have no claim on the waters but want ‘Freedom
of Navigation'
Though China has maintained that it does not intend to pursue militarization in the region,
satellite imagery has been reveling a different story.
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, since 2013, China has militarized
27 features in the region’s Spratly and Paracel island chains in an effort to expand
its presence and authority, China has even deployed advanced missiles
systems in the islands which include YJ-12 Anti Ship Missile as well as HQ-9 Surface
to Air missile.
The US regularly sends warships & aircraft to carry out Freedom of Navigation exercise.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic
bomber.
It has been a workhorse for the U.S Air Force The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing,
which has continued to provide support and upgrades.
It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s.
Better performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept
the B-52 in service despite the advent of more advanced aircraft, including the variable-geometry
B1B Lancer, and the stealthy B-2 Spirit.
After being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is supposed to serve till the 2040s after
which it is expected to be replaced by B-21 Raiders.
B 52 is powered by Pratt & Whitney turbojet engines.
It has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles or 14,080 km without aerial refueling.
The massive range enables B 52 to take on strategic bombing missions.
The powerful engines also enable B 52 to carry up to 70,000 pounds or 32,000 kg of weapons.
The B 52 is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear weapons.
Apart from the ability to drop bombs, B 52 can carry land-attack cruise missiles.
A total of 194 B-52Gs and Hs were modified to carry AGM-86s, carrying 12 missiles on
underwing pylons, with 82 B-52Hs further modified to carry another 8 missiles on a rotary launcher
fitted in the bomb-bay for a total of 20 missiles.
The AGM-86 is a subsonic air-launched cruise missile having a range of 2,400 km or 1490
miles depending on variant.
This enables the B 52 to launch it far off from the target.
AGM-86 has 3 different variants - AGM-86B equipped with W80 thermonuclear warhead, AGM-86C
with a conventional warhead and AGM-86D with an AUP or Advanced Unitary Penetrator warhead
designed to attack deeply buried targets.
The W80 is a thermonuclear warhead in the U.S. nuke stockpile with a variable yield
of between 5 and 150 kt of TNT.
It is specifically designed to be used by AGM-86 as well as the BGM-109 Tomahawk.
The W80 is a powerful asset, to give viewers a perspective here is a comparison.
Trinity Test in New Mexico in July 1945, which lead the world into the nuclear age, had a
yield of 20-kilotons.
Hiroshima's "Little Boy" bomb had a yield of 13-18 kilotons whereas Nagasaki's "Fat
Man" bomb had a yield of 20–22 kilotons of TNT.
A single B52H can carry at max 20 * 150 that is 3000 kt tons of TNT which is massively destructive.
B 52s are huge with no stealth characteristics which results in very high Radar Cross Section.
The bomber is also not fast as it can fly only at subsonic speeds at max.
Due to this, B 52s are not suitable for attacking areas defended by reasonably modern air defense
systems.
This is where AGM-86 comes into the picture.
The missile will enable the B 52s to launch strikes from standoff distances and hence
the Iranian air defense will find it hard to hit the B 52s as they will be outside their
strike envelope.
With a capacity to carry 12 or 20 of these missiles a B 52 could strike multiple targets
in a single sortie.
Also, the speed of this mission presents a tactical challenge for the Chinese military
which has often boasted about the ability to conquer “Taiwan within 100 hours with
only a few dozen casualties” and predicted that the U.S wouldn’t be able to intervene
in a short span of time.
Hence, it can be said that B 52s armed with AGM-86 is a potent adversary.
A fleet of B 52 supported by air superiority fighters and electronic warfare jets like
EA 18G Growler would enable the U.S military to carry out sustained bombing raids if required.
B 52’s mission will be reassuring to the allies who are growing increasingly concerned
due to China's aggressive posturing & hegemonic behavior in recent times.
Keeping all the aspects into consideration, deployment of B 52 is a strong message to China.