Last B-52G Falls to New START

The last B-52G marked for destruction under New START is slated for execution today at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. While the Air Force currently operates the B-52H, retired B-52Gs stored at the boneyard still counted against the deployed nuclear delivery platforms allowed under treaty limits. “With the elimination of [serial number] 58-0224, 39 B-52Gs will have been eliminated as part of U.S. reductions in order to meet the treaty’s central limits by Feb. 5, 2018,” according to a 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group release. The aircraft was initially delivered to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., from Boeing’s plant in Wichita, Kan., in January 1960. The bomber spent much of its career at Loring AFB, Maine, and flew strike missions from Guam during operations Arc Light and Linebacker II over Vietnam, according to USAF’s Historical Research Center. A total of 97 B-52Gs “surgically cut” under both the START and New START agreements remain in storage at Davis-Monthan, 309th AMARG spokeswoman Teresa Pittman told the Daily Report. An additional 13 newer B-52Hs also are kept in storage intact, she added.