Yep, the B-1 is a real piece of ****...

Responsible for over 10% of the DMPIs struck in OIF with less than 1% of the
sorties...
9.4 DMPIs struck per sortie...
Went downtown Baghdad and Tikrit everyday, even in broad daylight, sometimes
with no SEAD support...
MC rate better than many aircraft during OIF...
"The weapon of choice"--CAOC Director

Hope you had a good laugh back then...

BONE WSO


"BUFDRVR" wrote in message
...
Anyway
do you have any doubts about the question asked
"Could Blackjack bombers reach USA?"

Perhaps, but only a very few. Their mission capable rates were as low as
25%,
and that was in 1995.

I've told this story before, but its a good one and still makes me
chuckle. In
1995 Barksdale AFB was host to two Russian Bear Bombers (Tu-95), their
crews
and leadership. On the second day of their visit, several BUFF and Bear
crews
were out on the flightline exchanging tours of their respective aircraft.
A
B-1B from Dyess had weather diverted into Barksdale the previous night and
as
the BUFF and Bear crews were doing their exterior tour of the Bear, the
B-1B
attempted to leave and head back to Dyess. Due to the tremendous noise the
B-1
created as it took off, all conversation, both Russian and translated
English
stopped and everyone diverted their attention to the B-1 taking off. As
the
B-1 got halfway down the runway, and almost directly in front of the
Bears, a
puff of white smoke appeared and the throttles were brought back to idle.
Everyone continued to watch as the B-1 taxied to the end of the runway
where it
was joined by emergency response vehicles. As the B-1 made the turn off
the
runway, hydraulic fluid could be seen, literally, pouring out from
underneath
the aircraft. The B-1 stopped, the entry hatch opened and the crew
performed an
emergency egress. With the noise now gone, both BUFF and Bear crews
returned
their attention to the exterior of the Bear. Before the tour could resume,
one
of the Bear crewmembers looked at the others and uttered something in
Russian
which made the rest of the Bear crewmembers burst out in laughter. When a
BUFF
squadron commander asked what the joke was, the translator looked afraid
to
answer. Just then in pretty good English, one of the Bear crewmembers
pointed
to the B-1B, now in the hammerhead and surrounded by emergency vehicles
and
said; "Just like Tu-160....piece of ****". At that, all the BUFF crews
began to
roar with laughter, which made the Bear crews, and their concerned
translator,
more relaxed and they began to laugh out loud again. It was truely a
moment of
international bonding, crews of bombers built in the 1960s having a laugh
at
the expense of their newer "replacement aircraft". Any way, when asked
about
the Tu-160's mission capable rate, a rather gruff Russian Colonel said
less
than 1 in 4 is flyable at any given time.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it
harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"