RIP....
The last B-52G marked for destruction under New START is slated for
execution today at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. While the Air Force currently
operates the B-52H, retired B-52Gs stored at the boneyard still counted
against the deployed nuclear delivery platforms allowed under treaty limits.
"With the elimination of [serial number] 58-0224, 39 B-52Gs will have been
eliminated as part of U.S. reductions in order to meet the treaty's central
limits by Feb. 5, 2018," according to a 309th Aerospace Maintenance and
Regeneration Group release. The aircraft was initially delivered to the Air
Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., from Boeing's plant in
Wichita, Kan., in January 1960. The bomber spent much of its career at
Loring AFB, Maine and flew strike missions from Guam during operations Arc
Light and Linebacker II over Vietnam, according to USAF's Historical
Research Center. A total of 97 B-52Gs "surgically cut" under both the START
and New START agreements remain in storage at Davis-Monthan per 309th AMARG
spokeswoman Teresa Pittman. An additional 13 newer B-52Hs also are kept in
storage intact, she added.
