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19. B-52s struck in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm
On January 16, 1991, a flight of B-52s departed Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana (These planes were later destroyed at AMRG). The airplanes refueled inflight, launched conventionally armed AGM-86 stand-off cruise missiles and returned to Barksdale after a flight of 14,000 miles, taking 34 hours from takeoff to landing. It was at the time the longest combat mission ever flown by any aircraft. And it was a complete success. The B-52 eventually flew over 1,620 missions during Operation Desert Storm. About 40% of the ordnance dropped on targets in Iraq during that conflict were delivered by B-52s. They operated from bases in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
During one mission a B-52 was hit by friendly fire which accidentally targeted the airplane’s radar-controlled tail gun fire control system. In response, the Air Force removed the tail gunner from the bombers’ crews, and over the next several years the weapon was deactivated. The B-52 broke its own record for the longest combat mission in 1996. Two B-52H bombers departed Andersen Field, Guam, took out targets in and around Baghdad, Iraq, and returned. The 34-hour mission covered over 16,000 nautical miles, claiming the longest distance flown for a combat airstrike. B-52s also served in the wars over the collapse of Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, and in operations against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Although the Air Force inventory is reduced to less than 80 aircraft, it remains a workhorse of the skies.