USAF begin B-52 bombing missions over Iran for first time

The US Air Force has started B-52 bombing missions over Iran, according to the Chairmain of the Joint Chiefs, US Air Force General Dan Caine, in a Department of War briefing on 31 March.

Portraying the move as an escalation in the war, Caine emphasised the aerial supremacy of the US and Israeli militaries, particularly as Iranian air defence systems have largely deteriorated.

The Cold War era aircraft, which entered service in 1961, will provide a more intensive and dynamic bombing campaign than the precise but costly missile effects the US employed against largely static Iranian military assets.

Now, Caine pointed out, the unencumbered B-52 flights allow them “to get on top of the enemy” and “switch towards more and more dynamic targets servicing mobile targets around the battle space.”

Strategic or tactical success?

In this conflict, in which American objectives are notoriously ill defined, it is easy to confuse strategic with tactical priorities.

Despite securing aerial supremacy over Iran, almost always a key component to military success, the US has lost the initiative now five weeks into the war. The Islamic Republic, while outmatched technologically, which was always going to be the case against the United States, has resorted to asymmetric means of protracting the conflict.

Iranian leverage is tied up in their efforts to curtail global trade via the Strait of Hormuz; in the same way the Yemeni Houthis, and Iranian-backed militia, proved the same strategy in the Red Sea in recent years.

Caine noted in passing that the US, alongside its escalating air campaign, is still trying to pick off naval production facilities and depots where Iran makes and stores its anti-ship missiles and sea mines.

Could Iran still intercept B-52 aircraft?

Iran’s integrated air defence network is severely degraded: the Israel Defence Forces claim the joint campaign has eliminated 80% of Iran’s air defence systems as of 30 March.

With what little is left, assuming the Iranian regime still have a morsel of its best kit in service, which is unlikely as these systems would have been prioritised during the initial strikes, the question remains whether Iran could intercept a B-52 bomber aircraft.

The indigenous, long range Bavar-373 air defence system has a maximum detection range of 320 kilometres, well above the 50,000 feet (15.24 km) ceiling of a B-52H Stratofortress.

Likewise, Iran’s Russian-made S-300PMU-2 battery could also take down non-stealthy aircraft like the infamous US bomber.

However, the problem is less to do with range than it is with the make-up of their defence systems. For example, one GlobalData defence analyst noted that these S-300 batteries would most likely use Iranian radars instead of an original Russian one, which would offer inferior detection.