Gen. Ron
ald Keys, head of Air Combat Command, for one is ready to restart the B-52 standoff jammer program. Speaking with defense reporters in Washington Thursday morning, Keys acknowledged, as Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley had earlier, “We got enamored with everything it could do instead of just filling the gap that needed to be filled, which is essentially low band search and early warning radars.” The two senior leaders agree also “if the price starts to get away from us again, we’ll kill it again,” asserted Keys. For Round 2, Keys wants a “meat and potatoes core component jammer” utilizing 56 B-52 bombers.
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…