It is a cold war relic

In the month of March, the United States announced a strategic turn for Boeing’s military arm to Boomo and saucer: they gave him the device contract that must replace Washington in the highest drawer of military technologies. It was called F-47aspiring to replace the F-22 and overcome its scope. In other words: since then, if someone wanted to face the United States should have the new hunt among their thoughts.

China does not have it so clear. What infuses them “fear” is more than 70 years old.

Technological hierarchy. The result comes through an analysis prepared by researchers from the Early Alert Academy of the Air Force of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) in Wuhan, where they have identified the strategic bomber B-52 Stratofortress (A relic of The cold war With more than 70 years of service) as the nuclear attack platform most threatening in the United Stateseven surpassing modern poachers like The F-35a and invisible bombers such as B-2 Spirit.

The study, published in the magazine Modern Defense Technologywas based on simulations of a penetrating air operation against naval or land objectives in China, within the conceptual framework of an American air counterattack campaign (PCA). Against all forecast, the analysis concluded that the B-52H represents the greatest danger in the phases of deployment, penetration and attack. The key? Your ability to carry four nuclear bombs Tactics B61-12 already its constant modernizations in radar and electronic war.

Obsolete only in appearance. There are more, of course, since the study highlights that B61-12 bombswith a power equivalent to 300 tons of TNT, they are designed mainly for deterrence, but could be used to neutralize critical nodes and access denial systems (A2/AD) In case of conflict. Despite its longevity, the B-52H stands out in front of more modern platforms for its load capacity, its operational scope and the robustness of its updated systems.

Consequently, Chinese researchers conclude that, in a limited nuclear attack scenario, this veteran bomber would offer the greater “strategic value” For Washington. Moreover. The report even refers to a motion from the US Congress to restore the nuclear capacity of about 30 units of the B-52H, which reinforces its tactical relevance in the current context.

B61 bombs on a portabombas

Deterrence from the air. The EPL team was not limited to identifying threats: proposed concrete response measures, such as strengthening surveillance, interception and air defense capabilities along strategic routes. In addition, he stressed the need for INtensify military intelligence To discern if air attacks are conventional or nuclear, given the dual nature of many American platforms.

In front of poachers such as the F-35A or bombers such as B-2, the researchers recommended the intensive use of Electronic War and Cyber ​​attacks as tools to disturb your navigation and communications. A list of priority objectives was also established based on their relative threat, being the plane of Early alert E-3 Sentry considered key in conventional scenarios, while airplanes as the C-17 or the B-1b Strategic Bombarder They were classified as minor threats for their limited roles and outdated systems.

Tactical precision. Finally, the work tells that he avoided predictive models Based on artificial intelligence. He did, as they explain, for the concerns about their opacity (“Black Box”), opting for methods based on games and human judgment assisted by objective data. The assessment of threats was developed from sensitive technical information on US and Chinese systems, although at this point the sources were not specified.

For example, it is mentioned that furtive aircraft such as B-2 and F-22 have transverse radar sections of only 0.1 m², this means that, a priori, it would allow its detection by Chinese radars at 400 km. This technical precision is framed in the context of the rapid development Chinese of Hypersonic missiles Antiacereos, which could intercept white to more than 1,000 km away, and reflects a regional denial strategy that Beijing has expanded in sensitive areas Like Taiwan and the sea of South China.

Nuclear and Taiwan. In fact, the report does not seem that it has been commissioned just becauseof course. In a recent essay, former Undersecretary of Defense of the United States, James Anderson, already He warned That any future crisis in Taiwan would probably imply nuclear threats (implicit or explicit) by China, despite its official “not first use.”

Under that prism, and in this framework of growing tension and bilateral technological sophistication, the recognition of B-52 such as the more serious nuclear threat Not only redefines strategic perceptions about the military balance between great powers, but also underlines how, in the era of drones (Ukraine) and the Cybernetic wara colossus From the twentieth century it can continue, even today, the biggest carrier of the Apocalypse.

Image | US Air Force, United States Department of Defense

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