Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!spool2.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: rats@ihlpm.att.com (David Woo)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Old B-52s & FOG-M
Message-ID: <1991Jan27.101024.23174@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 27 Jan 91 10:10:24 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 34
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: rats@ihlpm.att.com (David Woo)

The NY TIMES reported that the current B-52s can only carry half the
bombload of Vietnam era B-52s (~50 compared to ~100). Where are these
older model B-52s? Are they destroyed or merely mothballed? NYT claimed
that the room was taken over by 'computers that increased bombing
accuracy,' something that I find hard to believe.

By the way, how is the B-52 attack radar working, since they removed
all the hydraulics and replaced them with electro-mechanical actuators?

What is the status of the FOG-M (Fiber-Optic Guided Missile)?

This would seem the ideal missile for attacking the Iraqi T-72s
that are dug in as anti-tank guns. I've seen pictures of the thing;
there are aseembled together in groups of vertical launchers. Once
shot into the air, they are guided onto the target via a TV camera
in the nose through signals propagated down a fiberoptic waveguide.

Perfect for a high-angle of attack situation, which is exactly
what the T-72s are in.

I kind of recall seeing pictures of tests of weapons dropped from
aircraft and penetrating the ground before exploding. I think it
was Sandia Labs that was conducting the tests, so, the question is,
are these penetrating bombs currently fielded?

This Kuwaiti campaign would have been the perfect place for Yale Jay
Lubkin's vision of B-52 aircraft launching autonomous RPVs that
automatically located and fired on armored vehicles.

Ah well, we all pay for a lack of vision...