At the height of the Cold War, the United States envisioned a force of over 400 heavy bombers to deter against the Soviet nuclear threat and to be prepared to launch long-range nuclear strikes. The end of the Cold War, marked by the breakup of the Soviet Union and negotiation of strategic arms limitations treaties, drastically reduced requirements for long-range bombers and resulted in a shift of the bombers’ primary role from nuclear to conventional missions. Since the early 1990s, Department of Defense (DOD) and the Air Force have reduced the size of the bomber force, begun to implement a new concept of operations to use bombers in conventional conflicts, and embarked on a program to upgrade the bombers’ conventional capabilities. The U.S. heavy bomber force consists of B-2s, B-1Bs, and B-52Hs. DOD plans to retain all three types of bombers well into the 21st century. Each type has a unique history that has been shaped in part by significant congressional interest in bomber issues. We have issued numerous reports on bomber issues in response to congressional concerns; these reports are listed at the end of this report. In 1978, DOD began to design the B-2 as a stealthy bomber to penetrate enemy defenses for both nuclear and conventional missions. The B-2 is a two-crew aircraft that incorporates stealth (low-observable) technologies to enhance survivability. In 1981, the Air Force planned to buy 132 B-2 aircraft, but the 1994 Defense Authorization Act limited the procurement to 20 aircraft with a cost ceiling of $28.968 billion in fiscal year 1981 constant dollars. The 1996 Defense Authorization Act removed this cost ceiling, and the Congress made available an additional $493 million that will be used to convert the first B-2 test aircraft into an operational B-2. Today, 21 aircraft are planned at a cost of about $45 billion in then-year dollars. The first B-2 was delivered in 1989, and the last block 30 aircraft is scheduled to be completed in 2000. The contractor will deliver the B-2s in three configurations (referred to as blocks 10, 20, and 30), and each successive block possesses improved capabilities. By 2000, the Air Force plans to have 21 B-2s in the block 30 configuration in its inventory. In 1970, the Air Force began to develop the B-1 bomber for strategic nuclear missions as a high-speed aircraft designed to penetrate Soviet airspace and evade Soviet radar by flying low to the ground. The B-1 program experienced difficulties from its inception, and in 1977, the program was canceled. But, in 1981, DOD revived the B-1 program, approving production of the B-1B to be part of a two-bomber program to replace the aging B-52 fleet. The B-1B was intended to serve as a penetrating bomber until the B-2 bomber was deployed in the 1990s, at which time the B-1B was expected to assume a standoff role. The first squadron of B-1Bs became operational in October 1986. The contractor delivered the 100th and final B-1B in May 1988. As a result of crashes, 95 B-1Bs remain. Throughout its existence, the B-1B has had technical problems, particularly with its defensive avionics system. B-52 bombers, which were first introduced in 1954, were produced in eight configurations (A through H) with the last H aircraft delivered in October 1962. While 744 B-52s were built, only 94 remain. During the decades of the Cold War, B-52s were dedicated primarily to deterring nuclear war. However, B-52Gs were the first missile-capable B-52 bombers and were used in conventional roles in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. During Operation Desert Storm, B-52Gs dropped approximately one-third of the total tonnage of bombs delivered by U.S. air forces striking wide-area troop concentrations, fixed installations, and bunkers and are credited with destroying the morale of Iraq’s Republican Guard. Following Desert Storm, the Air Force retired the B-52Gs and provided B-52Hs with enhanced conventional capabilities. While the 744 B-52s originally cost a little over $4.5 billion (an average unit cost of $6.1 million), over $41 billion has been spent over more than 40 years for their development, procurement, modernization, and service life extension. On the basis of engineering studies, the Air Force estimates that the B-52H will be structurally sound until about 2030. Since 1992, DOD and the Air Force have completed four major studies that have addressed bomber requirements—the Nuclear Posture Review, the Bottom-Up Review (BUR), the Air Force Bomber Roadmap, and the congressionally mandated 1995 Heavy Bomber Force Study. On the basis of these studies, DOD plans to make changes (shown in table 1.1) to the bomber force structure by 2001. Of the planned operational aircraft, 130 bombers will be available for conventional and nuclear missions and 24 will be used for training. The remaining 33 aircraft are test and backup aircraft. The Air Force has chosen to fully fund the operation of only 60 B-1Bs for the next few years, compared with plans to fund 82 beyond fiscal year 2000. In the short term, the Air Force has classified 27 of 95 B-1Bs as “reconstitution aircraft.” These aircraft are not funded for flying hours and lack aircrews, but they are based with B-1B units, flown on a regular basis, maintained like other B-1Bs, and modified with the rest of the fleet. B-1B units will use flying hours and aircrews that are based on 60 operational aircraft to rotate both the operational aircraft and the reconstitution aircraft through its peacetime flying schedule. However, because the Air Force has chosen not to fund aircrews for its reconstitution reserve aircraft, placing aircraft in reconstitution reserve reduces the number of aircraft the Air Force can support during wartime. In fiscal year 1997, the Air Force plans to begin reducing the number of reconstitution reserve aircraft by establishing two additional squadrons of B-1B aircraft and funding additional aircrews and flying hours. Since the Cold War ended, DOD has transferred some long-range bombers to the Air Force reserve components for the first time. In 1994, the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard established 1 B-52H squadron with 8 aircraft and 1 B-1B squadron with 10 aircraft. The Air National Guard will establish one additional B-1B squadron of eight aircraft in the near future. All bombers will be based in the continental United States. The Air Force plans to expand the number of B-1B bases from three to five beginning in fiscal year 1996. Specifically, the Air Force plans to move six B-1Bs to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho and establish a new Air National Guard squadron of B-1Bs at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. Another Air National Guard squadron of B-1Bs is located at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas. Figure 1.1 shows the locations of the future bomber force. In 1991, the President of the United States took the bombers off nuclear alert status. Subsequently, in January 1993, the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) II building on agreements reached in START I signed July 1991. The treaty sets equal ceilings on the number of nuclear weapons that can be deployed by either party. If ratified by both countries, the START II treaty would reduce the deployable nuclear warheads to no more than 3,500 by the year 2003. In assessing bomber requirements in light of the new limits, DOD plans to remove the B-1B from the nuclear role. The B-2s and B-52Hs will retain the nuclear mission. B-52Hs assigned to the Air Force Reserve remain available for nuclear missions, but they will be flown by active duty pilots if assigned nuclear missions. According to the Air Force Bomber Roadmap, bombers will provide the majority of the firepower during the initial and sustained operations phases of major regional conflicts. From bases in the United States, the Air Force expects the bombers to fly long duration, round-trip missions of up to 36 hours to make initial attacks within 24 hours of being tasked. Within a few days of the start of a conventional conflict, bombers will be expected to deploy to forward locations for sustained operations, flying shorter and more frequent missions. The goal of the bomber missions will be to halt invading enemy armored forces and disrupt the enemy’s ability to wage war by attacking time-critical targets quickly, using a combination of direct attack and standoff munitions. Some bombers deployed to a major regional conflict will be expected to swing to a second regional conflict if needed. Each bomber will play a different role in a major regional conflict. The Air Force envisions the B-2 as the leading edge of the initial response to conflict because of its projected stealthiness and weapons delivery precision. The B-2 will be expected to fly into heavily defended areas to attack highly valued targets as well as enemy ground troops. The Air Force will assign both standoff and penetrating missions to the B-1B in medium-to-high threat environments and will expect the B-1B to destroy the bulk of the defended, time-critical targets early in the conflict using direct attack and standoff munitions. The B-52H will be primarily a standoff bomber in the early phases of conflict, using precision-guided munitions such as conventional air-launched cruise missiles, and will provide massive firepower by directly attacking targets in low- to medium-threat environments using munitions such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition. Figure 1.2 shows the Air Force’s planned employment of the bombers.