The general in line to take over coalition operations in Afghanistan had words of praise Tuesday for the B-1B bomber and its contributions to the counterinsurgency in that nation. “It is a great platform in at least two respects, maybe more,” Army Gen. David Petraeus told Senate Armed Services Committee members during his nomination hearing to become commander of US Forces-Afghanistan. He is currently US Central Command boss. Petraeus said, for one, the B-1 “carries a heck of a lot of bombs, substantial ordnance.” Is also “has some very good” intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance capabilities like the Sniper targeting pod. “It is almost like having another unmanned aerial vehicle, in terms of full-motion video,” when the B-1 is overhead, he said. Further, Petraeus said the B-1 “can loiter for a good time.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) asked Petraeus about the B-1. The 28th Bomb Wing operates 28 B-1s at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Thune’s state. Last week the Daily Report reported that the Air Force was considering eliminating the entire B-1 fleet as a cost-savings measure.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…