A strategic bomber is a large aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, which are used in the battle zone to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are built to fly into an enemy's heartland to destroy strategic targets e.g. major military installations, factories and cities. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions.
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Cold war and later
During the Cold War both the U.S. and USSR kept strategic bombers ready to launch at a moment's notice as part of the deterrent strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction. Most strategic bombers of the two superpowers were designed to deliver nuclear weapons. For a time, B-52 Stratofortress bombers were kept in the air around the clock, orbiting fail-safe points near the Soviet border. More recent strategic bombers like the Rockwell International (now Boeing) B-1B Lancer bomber, Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack and the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber incorporate stealth features in their design in an effort to avoid detection. Non-stealthy strategic bombers, e.g., the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress or the equally venerable Tupolev Tu-95 are still relevant through the use of air-launched cruise missiles and other "stand-off" weapons like JSOW and JDAM. Indeed, it is likely that the USAF B-52 fleet will, with continuing upgrades, outlive the B-1B fleet. However, the USAF has recently launched a program for a new strategic bomber to complement the current fleet; it is likely that this bomber will also serve as a replacement for both the B-52 and B-1. In the case of the Russian VVS (Air Forces), no new strategic aircraft will likely enter service in the next 20 or so years and the current Tu-95, Tu-142, Tu-26 and Tu-160 fleet will be periodically updated, as it was seen in the 1990's with the Tu-22M fleet. During the Cold War, strategic bombers were almost certainly armed with nuclear weapons. However, since the end of the Cold War, strategic bombers have exclusively been deployed using non-nuclear, conventional weapons. During Operation Desert Storm, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, American B-52s and B-1s were employed in both strategic and tactical roles. During the 1979-1988 Soviet-Afghan war, many Tu-95 carried out several mass bombings on several regions of the country.
Notable strategic bombers
World War I
Gotha G
Handley Page Type O- Handley Page V/1500
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets- Zeppelin Staaken R.VI
- Zeppelin
World War II
- Avro Lancaster
B-17 Flying Fortress- B-24 Liberator
- B-29 Superfortress
- Handley Page Halifax
Petlyakov Pe-8- Short Stirling
- He 177
Cold War
- Avro Vulcan
- B-36 Peacemaker
- B-47 Stratojet
- B-50 Superfortress
- B-52 Stratofortress
- B-58 Hustler
Dassault Mirage IV- FB-111A nuclear capable variant of F-111 Aardvark
- Handley Page Victor
- Myasishchev M-4
- Tupolev Tu-4
- Tupolev Tu-16
- Tupolev Tu-95
- Tupolev Tu-22M
- Vickers Valiant
Xian H-6 (Licenced copy of Tupolev Tu-16)
Post Cold War
- B-1 Lancer
- B-2 Spirit
- B-52 Stratofortress
- Tupolev Tu-95
- Tupolev Tu-22M
- Tupolev Tu-160
- Xian H-6 (Licenced copy of Tupolev Tu-16)
Future
- Russian future strategic bomber project PAK DA and Tu-2000
- A future USAF bomber to at least complement the current fleet (and likely to supplant a portion or all of the B-52 or even B-1 fleet); a rather ambitious deployment time frame goal of 2018 has been established.[1]
