(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"

Nice story BUFDRVR, thanks for posting it again. Just one point. Those BEAR
H that the US hosted were new build aircraft and only rolled off the
production line during the 80's. They could even have been only a few years
old as the last BEAR H rolled off the production line in the early
90's! (1991/92 IIRC)

TJ