Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

America Strikes Back: Look at the B-52 Bomber

Aired October 16, 2001 - 10:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. It's a beautiful day here. This is one of two bases that house the B-52. The other, Barksdale, Louisiana. Now the B-52 is otherwise known as the B-52 straddle fortress. It's also known as the workhorse of the Air Force bomber fleet, and it's also here affectionately known as BUFF -- big, ugly fat fellow. And the reason is take a look behind me, wingspan of 185 feet, the length of it 160, the tail 40 feet high. This is just an immense plane when you look at it.

As you see here, an array of weapons, we'll get to talk about that later. But this plane has seen action in Vietnam, in the Cold War, in the Gulf War, and of course now in Afghanistan.

Now we are going to -- will take you inside show you what it looks like. As big as this plane is, let me tell you, it's pretty small in here. I'm climbing up to the first level. This is -- as you can see from the camera here, there's two spots here. These are the navigator spots. This is the radar navigator on the left responsible for directing the munitions. This is the navigator on the right, and that person is responsible for guiding the plane in flight. I will go up one extra level here. And up here, behind me, back that way, the electronic warfare's officers, and up here the pilot and copilot.

And Commander Colonel Richard Newton, the colonel of the fifth bomb wing is joining me here.

Have you flown this plane?

COL. RICHARD NEWTON: Yes, I have. This is a 1960s vintage aircraft. In fact, my dad has flown this B-52 in the early '70s, and now I get an opportunity to fly it as well.

NELSON: And how big of a change has there been in 40 years in this plane. It still looks like the same plane you used to see in the history books.

NEWTON: Well, it's an awesome weapon system. The aircraft has really grown through the years. We have a favorite saying in the B-52 community, much like you saw -- it's no longer your father's Oldsmobile, if you will.

NELSON: It's been updated. NEWTON: It's been updated. It's no longer your father's B-52, with weapons upgrades, as well as avionics and software. And the men and women who fly and maintain and support this aircraft have grown along with the weapon system. It's an awesome team that keeps the aircraft in peak condition.

NELSON: Now the weapons that are on this plane, mostly conventional, some precision, some conventional weapons?

NEWTON: That's correct. We have a mix of precision and non- precision weapons, if you will. We have joined direct attack munition, which is a 2,000 global positioning system, near-precision type weapon. We can also carry general purpose bombs, 500 pounders, 750s, 1,000 pounders, even 2,000 pounders as well.

NELSON: Amazing. We will come back right after break. We will take this short moment with the colonel. So stay with us here from Minot Air Force Base. I'm Brian Nelson.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NELSON: Hello. Once again, I'm Brian Nelson, in the copilot seat of a B-52 straddle fortress at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. With me, Colonel Richard Newton is the wing commander. Colonel, I got to confess to you, one of the memories I have of the B- 52 is of "Slim Pickens" sitting in here in the movie "Dr. Strangelove," or "How I Learned to Love the Bomb." This looks an awful lot like that same plane. I want to hear more about the changes.

NEWTON: Well, the B-52 -- this is 1960 model aircraft that you're sitting in right now. And as I mentioned before, the aircraft has really grown through the decades. It's a wonderful aircraft, maintained by just an awesome team of professionals,who have maintained this aircraft throughout the years. You mentioned the "Slim Pickens" movie. That's an interesting thought. But I'll tell you, the aircraft has really grown a lot since then, in terms of not only awesome combat capability but how we maintain the airplane and it's always ready for a fight, if when and if called upon.

NELSON: The longest flight these planes have made I think is somewhere in the area of 36 hours, right.

NEWTON: That's right. That was 30-plus hours, and that was during Desert Storm you're right.

NELSON: Virtually, this plane is unstoppable as long as you continue to refuel it. There are limits I guess.

NEWTON: We consider this aircraft worldwide deployable. It can be put on any target in virtually a matter of hours, and it has certainly a tremendous air-refueling capability.

We team up with our KC-135 tankers, or the KC-10 tankers, and we can virtually go anywhere around the world and put bombs on target wherever our nation leaders ask us to do that.

NELSON: OK, thank you, colonel.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com