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Iraq
B1Bs withdrawn from Iraq for modifications
2016-02-21
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The U.S. Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr. revealed, that the U.S. Air Force pulled its Lancer B-1 bombers from the operations carried out by Washington against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Brown told reporters at the Pentagon via a video link obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The fleet of B-1 Lancer bombers had been sent back to the United States from their deployment in the Mideast,” adding that, “The four-engine bombers are due for upgrades to their cockpits, a process that will keep the jets stateside for an undetermined amount of time.”

Brown also pointed out, “The air campaign against ISIS will continue and the B-1s will likely be part of it again,” indicating that, “Other U.S. and coalition aircraft would pick up the B-1s’ missions during the upgrades.”
CNN adds:
Speaking at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition last September, Lt. Gen. John W. Hesterman III, the Air Force's assistant vice chief of staff said, "Last Tuesday, we emptied three B-1s over Iraq and Syria -- 80 targets in 20 minutes -- that's significant."

B-1s from the 28th Bomb Wing out of Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, home to 27 of the bombers, flew 490 sorties against ISIS in a six-month deployment that ended in January, according to a release from the bomb wing. They dropped 3,800 munitions on 3,700 targets, a base release says.
Posted by:badanov

#10  Both.
Posted by: gorb   2016-02-21 22:35  

#9  The reign of ruin?
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-02-21 22:27  

#8  "Sorry about your face!"
Posted by: Procopius2k   2016-02-21 21:29  

#7  Fine.

"I'm sorry for the rain of ruin we will doth smite with upon thy ass"

Better?
Posted by: DarthVader   2016-02-21 21:17  

#6  Darth, taunting the enemy is not PC. We need to include words of apology on the bombs.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2016-02-21 20:11  

#5  Sounds like a perfect time for a bomber based drone mothership and hundreds of little bomb drones to be built.

The perfect way to say, "Fuck you and your C&C, tanks, bunkers, bridges, electrical grid and pretty much anything else we think you need to be without."

We could even paint little smilie faces on them!
Posted by: DarthVader   2016-02-21 19:05  

#4  Glenmore,

Believe it or not, it's not impossible to new-build BUFFs - the dies and tooling are still in storage, but only for the H model. What might be problematic would be the wing spars, which were made in an ALCOA factory a couple miles from where I grew up in Cleveland. The stamping press is a one-of-a-kind piece of machinery, and may not be usable, though officially the USAF keeps it in 'standby'. (If they ever need more cupholders on the F-35 though, it's probably outta here)

The Nifty Fifty

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2016-02-21 18:13  

#3  Mike - probably the bluetooth needs updating
Posted by: Frank G   2016-02-21 15:54  

#2  Would it be more cost-effective to build a bunch of new B-52s, considering how the bomber fleet is being used? Could even contract it out to Brazil or India & really save money. Or maybe modify 747s for bomb delivery. Don't need all the expensive high tech stuff in the B-1 (& B-2).
Posted by: Glenmore   2016-02-21 15:46  

#1  Brown told reporters at the Pentagon via a video link obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The fleet of B-1 Lancer bombers had been sent back to the United States from their deployment in the Mideast,” adding that, “The four-engine bombers are due for upgrades to their cockpits, a process that will keep the jets stateside for an undetermined amount of time.”

...There's two words for that, and they rhyme with Pull Quit.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2016-02-21 07:21  

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