Quote:
Originally Posted by John Beaman
As for defeating ISIS, how about some ARC LIGHT strikes? We have plenty of B-52s doing nothing at the moment.
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Hello John,
I would say 'plenty' somewhat exaggerates the number of B-52s available. I will try to look up the exact number of B-52s in the PMAI (Primary Mission Aircraft Inventory), but I would imagine it is no more than 50.
As to the state of USAF aircraft strength as a whole, there is a useful presentation by Lt. Gen. Deptula (Ret.) from May this year, see link -
http://www.daedalians.org/documents/DD%20Dadaelians%2030%20May%2015.pdf . Note, in particular, page 8 of this document, which shows large declines in the USAF inventory since the beginning of the War on Terror in 2001.
LtG Deptula is a very experienced officer, it is interesting to look through the wider body of his commentary. See his official biography here -
http://www.af.mil/DesktopModules/Art...Article=104634 .
Oh and a
N.B. from me: you have a private message in your inbox, on Luftwaffe-related issues.
Warm regards,
Paul