It sure sounded like a good idea: Take a few B-52s, strap on outboard radar-jamming pods, and scramble enemy air and electronic defense networks at will. It seems now that Air Force officials are reconsidering the whole thing in favor of a more-agile platform. That’s the word from the Lexington Institute’s well-informed Loren Thompson, as quoted in a Reuters dispatch. Of course, given the Pentagon’s budget slashing mood, cutting the electric B-52 dollars might have been a fairly obvious move to make. However, the Air Force will need to make a move soon to have a replacement by the time the Navy retires its EA-6B Prowlers.
Maj. Gen. Larry Broadwell, deputy commander of the 16th Air Force, used an elaborate, sports-themed analogy for understanding information warfare at the AFA Warfare Symposium.