Bill Van Cleave was my department head after he moved the Strategic Studies department from USC to Missouri State. He was a great professor and a good friend, he passed away in 2013.
@@californiaslastgasp6847 He was at USC for many years, then (by his telling) he had a complete falling out with the USC faculty senate in 1985 or 86, and at the same time the new president of then SW Missouri State was looking for ways to increase the school's visibility. Bill was originally from Missouri, so they agreed that he would re-locate the department to SW Missouri State (which at that time offered no doctoral degrees, so it was a master's program only). I believe 1987 was the year he began at SMSU. The program is still part of Missouri State but has physically relocated to Fairfax VA, outside Washington DC. Much easier to get guest speakers and faculty from the defense establishment when they don't have to fly to Springfield MO.
I'm Australian, I remember being at primary school in the late '70's being shown a show called 'Beyond the News' that showed where we'd be safe in event of a Soviet nuclear attack. Every capital city was a target, the only safe place was south central WA.
Especially giving the fact that Putin said that any country that intervenes will face "destruction which has never been seen" or something like that. Scary stuff indeed.
I have "The Day After" in my digital movie collection. I am planning to watch it, "Countdown to Looking Glass", and "By Dawn's Early Light" this weekend (February 26-27, 2022).
@@StarFleet_Tech1701 Also makes our National Missile Defense useless. Putin flexed his hypersonic missile capability by using it to strike inside Ukraine. I hope we have some secret aces in the hole.
@Random Number Well I can tell you that the folks designing the B-52 we all white males. It was just the times. Our modern sentiments abhor this, however it was true. It sucks but it is just the way it was.
The Air Force cooperated in the making of this documentary because it was pushing for more funding for the "MX" (later called "Peacekeeper") missile. That weapon was ultimately developed, deployed and was retired in the '90s after the end of the Cold War.
Don't forget the B-1..they were pushing for that too. 🙄😒 BTW, my eye-roll isn't calling into question the need for Strategic Weapons, just the stupidity of all the money put into the B-1 instead of upgrading and re-engining the B-52 which was always going to be cheaper to fly and a much greater deterrent than the B-1 ever was (as neither threatened the USSR in anything but the carriage of ALCMs and the B-52 could deliver them farther and cheaper, etc.)
@@nucflashevent A lot of the sheer waste was because of conservative think tanks attacking the Carter Administration over canceling the B-1 even though a lot of the people on them were former members of the Nixon/Ford Administrations and had some knowledge of the development of what would become the B-2.
@@nucflashevent Don't forget that over time the B-1 ultimately replaced the F-111's. It didn't happen overnight but it still happened. The idea was that the B-52 can be used as a standoff weapon and launch a BUNCH of cruise missiles, the B-1 is a low level fast bomber that can evade radar and hit other difficult targets. The B-2 is capable of high altitude drops wherever it feels like because of it's stealth capability. That's what the theory was anyway.
@@UAL012 Yeah, the F-111's job was split between the B-1 for supersonic strategic bombing and the F-15E for tactical bombing **but** your point isn't lost (and is very accurate as the B-52 and B-2.) This is the problem even now. EVEN the United States...a country not known for having a problem coming up with defense spending, lol...can't afford to replace every single non-stealthy platform with a stealth equivalent. Stealth aircraft are great, but frankly when you knock out an enemies RADAR capability, **every** airplane in your arsenal is suddenly a stealth airplane, lol. This is one reason I'm very glad that the B-21 is moving forward (all stealth aircraft are expensive, you might as well focus on long range, heavy stealth bombers if you're going to spend the money, etc.) and the B-52s are scheduled to finally be re-engined and upgraded with glass cockpits.
About that... Note at 6:33 he says there's "ICBMs, numerous ICBMs" on their way, but he then doesn't go on to say "Over three hundred missiles inbound now." Do you or anyone else know if some of this movie ended up on the cutting room floor?
@@launch4 I always wondered about that as well. Also The Beale scene 3:48. In the movie he says "We got 32 targets in track, with 10 impacting points", before asking is this an exercise. Yet on this documentary he doesn't say it
I’m in Regina, Saskatchewan in 🇨🇦 just north of Minot. A coworker of mine has a kid in the military who said we’re close enough to Minot, ND that if someone tried to take out missile silos there we’d get wiped off the map too.
The Russians did not have as accurate navigation on their ICBMs as the USA. They compensated by generally using higher yield warheads to make up for it.
Same. I grew up in the suburbs east of LA in the late 70s - my friends and I worked out that between downtown LA, March AFB and the San Onofre nuclear plants we were all right royally screwed in the event of a full on nuclear war. I still remember my "duck and cover" drills too !
I agree. I was in the US Navy from 1979 to 1991. What I find particularly chilling is how casually, almost glibly, these people talk about all-out, global, thermo-nuclear war, like they are arm-chair quarterbacking a college bowl game.
Saw this documentary on multiple occasions during my USAF career. General Autery was known to generations of Air Force audiences as “General Qualude,” for his unflappable calm in the face of absolute disaster
The problem with this idea is that it assumes *everyone* wants to avoid annihilation. These days, there are lots of people who would gladly go down, if they could take the world with them.
Sounds like an advert for Defense spending approval...Makes me laugh that 60 years since their introduction the B52s are still running and are expected to still be in service until the 2050's
Did they play it on a big video disc player? Lol I remember going into a Navy recruiter's office and watching the video, that was around 1990 or so, about the only place I saw one of those bigger disc players. The military must have put in a big order for em.
@@kbanghart I was going to to an Air Base with Nuclear Weapons and they tried to justify to the class the need for a strong Nuclear deterrence against the Soviets. It was on VCR tape when they played it to us.
Cute how they're talking about $50 Billion as a prohibitive cost. Nowadays such an amount is peanuts, we just paid Trillions on Covid relief. Heck, we gave 15 Billion to airlines as bailouts. I realized 50 Billion was a lot more money in the early 80s but still...
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV, Jesus Christ is the only way. It is impossible to lose salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV. Once Saved Always Saved is true..
I was a teen in ‘82 and ‘83 and quite terrified for a good portion of that time. Not without reason, as it turns out. The Russians thought we were planning a first strike with our Pershing 2’s with their 10-minute flight time. Very dangerous time.
Rather interesting that they mention the B-52 as having a service life just till the 90s. Back in the 70s when much of this was filmed of course things were different. Now the BUFF might be retired in the 2040s if not beyond. A testament to the brilliance of its deign first going into service in 1955.. Far outliving the expectations of strategists of long ago. By the time the -52 is retired it will be approaching 100 years of service. No other aircraft can match that. That's how great it truly is.
@@GrassPossum never will be as capable as the -52. Not now not ever. Especially after the -52 gets its new engines which are already on the pipeline. Nice try though. The Bear is truly good but just not as good.
@@VettemanLT5 LOL Dream on. Actual military analysts disagree. Everything great the US military has is always only CGI and promises for the future. Your arms industry is a giant white elephant and the USA dare not get into a shooting match with Russia, we all know why. Because they can't afford to have their useless weapons systems shown up, which they will be. Then you'd have NO exports left at all.
@@GrassPossum well gee. You have it all figured out don't you. Look at what just happened to the pride of the garbage Russian navy bud. You're simply clueless. But it's okay kiddo. Let your Russian buddies fuck around. Eventually it's only going to fuck them in the ass. 'Cos of course if we ever actually helped Ukraine (which we should not) with a bunch of A-10's and F-35's against those stuck miles-long convoys their Su-25's would kill them all right? F-15E-s?? The F-15C or the -16's and -18's would just be stopped by the Russians? Just like magic? These fucks can't even field an aircraft carrier like we can bud. No one can. It's called power projection. Stop your delusion bud. Besides the Russian economy isn't that great. That's why they lost the Cold War they simply couldn't keep up LMAO!!!
@@GrassPossum Actually the TU-95 was based on an early design for the B-52 that was rejected because of the advances made in jet engines. The original B-52 of 1946 was to be a turboprop and it resembles the Tu-95. The Tu-95 is also a remarkable aircraft too, either of them, although they carry cruise missiles for the most part, I'm sure they can still be used in the bomber role given the right crews, circumstances, tactics (I suggest coming in low and nape of the Earth) and of course, luck, God, whatever you believe in.
This appears to have been made in early 80s - back then B-52s were on 24 hour airborne alert with bombers waiting in the air at Fail Safe points. The idea that nearly all but 22 B-52s would be destroyed on the ground was wrong.
There was a NO Shit Red Scare throughout my time in the hardened Minuteman III silos, across the mind-numbingly frozen tundra of the Minot AFB missile complex, in the early to mid 80s. In the three years that me and my team were in the fields of those missile squadrons (1982-85), this period was also considered the "hottest" time in the ICBM Cold War. As far as I'm concerned, I was the 4th finger in line to Armageddon. The President, the MCCC, the DMCCC, and me, the Cageman (yes, there were many knuckles involved, like the MMT team chief. But, through our singular and unique actions, our fingers were ultimately the ones that "turned the keys").
Nothing wrong with fear. All soldiers feel it during their duty to their homelands. Man had a job to do and he did it. Personally I have always admired the humor they had with things like delivery in 30 minutes guaranteed dominos pizza joke or the death wears bunny slippers military patch.
Pre-emptive nuclear strike may wipe out most land targets but it will not disarm and incapacitate the enemy. If you have SSBNs then you can always retaliate with a massive nuclear strike, unless you have John Anthony Walker working against you.
It is interesting that they jumped from the B-52 bomber reference, to the B-1 Bomber. We HAD (note past tense) a High Speed bomber that was taken out of service only after 10 years, and that was the B-58 Hustler, a Mach 2 nuclear capable bomber platform. Now we have the B-2, already 30 years old in service, but the B-21 (little brother to the B-2) is coming up the ranks. Perhaps another stealth type cruise missile needs to be created or resurrected?
In 1987, a German flew a Cessna from Helsinki to Moscow, landing on the Red Square, in 2047, those B52 bombers built in 1962 will be still ready, that's the outlook.
Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he was not bluffing on the use of nuclear weapons and ordered partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in a last-ditch effort to turn the war in Ukraine in his favour....[22 September 2022]
I had a bad experience with Tab when I was a kid. It was the late 70s and I was 9 I think. Took one swig and was like "This is the pop they serve in Hell"
Used to be a secret. When we had Titans at 3 bases, we only needed to get 5 off the ground at a base to destroy the USSR, we were gonna do that 3 times over. 15 titan II missiles were enough to render the USSR uninhabitable for the 10,000 years. GLCMs and Rail Garrison were great systems. Minuteman on rails.
And thankfully, it was a waste of money that was never put to use! Except for the psychological pressure that the ‘MAD’ doctrine represented. It DID keep the ‘trigger happy’ sides of the cold war subdued after all. I’m grateful that the efforts to “improve” ICBM performance, were directed toward, and eventually channeled into what we know today as the ‘Space Race.’ Even though the Russians beat the Americans in the race to the moon by 9 3/4 years. time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/
@@ShikataGaNai100 You must remember the entire nation was not re,ally the target. The government and the military sites were. The titan was more than an match for any of those, but thanks for the input. It is much appreciated. Critical thinking is fun.
What they do not mention is the improved accurosy of the trident sub launch missile. About half of the US nuclear deterant is now in the 14 trident subs.
With all pitches for more military funding you have part reality, part fantasy, part paranoia. Overexagerating soviet military equipment, for example. Without exception, with reality of all soviet (and Russian after that) military doctrine and equipment has been far inferior to what was once feared. Short of b52's getting annihilated over the USSR (as they would have), Russia didn't have a prayer of winning a war. Of course nuclear war is unwinnable in the minds of the sane. "The only winning move is not to play"
Chernobyl pretty much put an end to the Soviet threat. They were too busy for the next several years, fighting one helluva monster of their own creation. Thanks to an RBMK reactor and a guy named Dyatlov.
Fast forward to 2022 and Putin is destroying Ukraine, threating to nuke Sweden, Finland and even Canada. Flew nuclear armed aircraft into Sweden airspace. Appears Cold War 2 has started and the Iron Curtain is going back up.
40 years on... B-52s are still the main stay.. B-1s are the next bomber to be decommissioned and B-52s are expected to last until 2050 making the air frames 90 years old on a 100 year old design.
The irony is, the B-52 is still in service. It will outlast both the B1 Lancer, and B2 Stealth Spirit Bombers. The B-52 is expected to be flying 100 years after entering service before it is finally retired. If things keep going the way they are in the world, it will participate in WW3.
It’s probably caused by the 1,200 gallons of demineralized war used for heavy “wet” takeoffs. The H model B-52s had the early generation TF-33 fans and did not use water for extra thrust.
It would be good to see an updated version of this disturbing film looking at worldwide threats as they are now 30 years later, but is it pointless for any country to think about retaliation against a nuclear strike? Wouldn’t any large initial nuclear strike from any country bring about a nuclear winter, worldwide contamination and the loss of all life? What’s the point of spending a fortune building up defences? All that such spending could achieve is the satisfaction that the initial targeted country, now with millions dead, could kill millions in the country which made the initial launch, killing more will not save the world.
Then the Soviets will fulfill the ultimatum that they explicitly warned to the US with the guarantee of all the Urban center's of the United States Destroyed. Of course many of the Soviet Unions Cities will be destroyed but the USA will ceased to exist while the Soviet Union can call this a "minor" victory with the Global Economy completely destroyed, while the Warsaw Pact Armies are intact to conquered a demoralized Western Europe. Also we do not know how many SSBN's are even operational while out to sea with the possibility of 10 more American Boomers sunk by Soviet Submarines. Obviously the American President in this scenario is very weak and prefers to save the rest of his country instead of avenging the 8 million fallen American's. Still choosing to save what's left of America vs Avenging American service man and delivering swift justice to the Soviets is a very hard decisions to make, your dammed either way once you make that decision as the President. Either play the Long game of diplomacy to isolate the Soviet Union Internationally OR play the short game of guaranteed destruction of the free world.
@@johnmurphy5689 For the time period. I'd do my best to get into contact with the subs, I figure there has to be at least 5-10 left. I have 46 minuteman's left? I'm sending 20 to their strategic assets. 13 to their Cities. The remaining 13 will be split between Warsaw pact countries. At least they won't take Western Europe. Everyone is going to get it. Might have the few subs I have left hit China.
I read Putin believes he could win a nuclear was with the USA. They have invested heavily in their nuclear force and just flexed a hypersonic missile in Ukraine. I dont understand why everyone just cant stay in their own yard and play nice.
@@richgilmour5924 Lol Imagine if you're POTUS and this country is hit by an All-Out Nuclear attack. Yes it was limited to Strategic/Counter force targets. Yet millions of Americans are dead and it's safe to assume hundreds of thousands will be dying in the next few weeks. This was an unprovoked attack. Keeping with the Time period I have 46 Minuteman III's left. Each with three 170kt warheads, which leaves me the ability to hit 138 targets. Well 138 targets are getting hit across Russia, China, The Warsaw Pact and North Korea. We all dying then, no one is winning. The hell with that, lol. It's a terrible decision to have to make. It's almost like you have to make them pay for forcing you, to make such a decision.
When the Soviet Union collapsed three decades ago, a lot of people were pleased that Cold War was over and eternal peace was realized. But nothing has changed since them. Danger of nuclear wars still exist in Ukraine, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula etc. I wonder what we have learned since then.
Interesting to google the number of nuclear 'incidents' that have occurred over the years and read about the likes of Vasily Arkhipov and Stanislav Petrov. Both heroes and both Russian. Oppenheimer could not have been more correct when he said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
1983: #RainerRupp (a DDR spy) was able to inform #HVA and #KGB that it was indeed only an exercise, but they still didn’t believe him until he was able, at the last minute, to provide them with #NATO highly classified documentation to prove his assertion. See more at NATO Able Archer, USSR Ryan operation.
@@ShikataGaNai100 you are one ignorant sob and you probably even voted for the same guy that called you a loser and a sucker so go follow your Cheeto Jesus and shut the hell up with your demented ignorance.
And this is why all bombers have been moved to bases in the center of the US . Here where I live on the west coast, all the bombers are gone. Mather and Castle AFBs are closed, Beale is Recon and March is logistic. I live up the road from Beale. I am a USAF Cold War Veteran.
The way I see it, Russia's nuclear arsenal is the only thing that makes them a threat to us from a military perspective. However, their conventional forces pose a credible threat to our NATO allies.
Due to combat losses, a lot of SAC and MAC pilots were moved into fighter cockpits. I served in a SAC tanker group in the mid-80s; the commander, deputy commander for operations and deputy commander for maintenance were all career KC-135 pilots, but each did a tour in RF-4Cs in Vietnam. Pre and Post-strike recce was a risky business, especially in an unarmed aircraft
Ironically, the US Navy solved the problem of SLBMs only serving as second strike weapons (Trident II) and the Air Force bomber wing also solved the problem of bomber penetration (B1B and B2). All three legs of the triad strengthened in the 80s for the US.
The Trident II SLBM and the Ohio Class Submarine as well as the B-2 was already in development during the Carter years. Indeed, most of the windfall of next-generation weapons that would define the US military of the Reagan era, were either already being fielded or were close to being fielded during the Carter years. Had Reagan not become President, the only weapons system that wouldn't have been fielded would be the B-1b. Carter invested in updating the B-52 fleet with ALCMs and may well have put or defense dollars to better use giving the B-52 new engines so they could serve as a stop-gap until the B-2 arrived.
Under limited nuclear war scenarios, Tridents become 1st strike weapons, along with Russian Yasen class subs armed with hypersonic cruise missiles off US coasts.
@@TheLAGopher Under Putin, Russian modernized it's triad with rail and road-mobile ICBMs, hypersonic glide warheads, Borei SSBN with Bulava SLBMs, Poseidon nuclear-powered drone torpedoes, modernized Blackjack supersonic bombers, and the stealth PAKDA bombers armed with Skyfafall nuclear-powered cruise missiles that can loiter for years.
The 2 guys headed down the elevator in the beginning were real Missalears! Im sure they retired by now but during the filming of "The Day after" they were not actors.
'8 million Americans are dead.' Leaving aside the fact that this completely ignores the impact of fallout which would add at a minimum 20 million dead this figure of 8 is at the lower end of an attack on only the nuclear detterent. Most estimates made showed between 10-20 million dead.Those estimates also ignored estimated deaths from attacks on the various civilian airports put at 10 million. In reality those would be targeted. In practice the difference between a counterforce and countervalue strike in terms of dead isn't that big. Once you factor in fallout related deaths the differences get quite small. Of course since this short film was meant to bring some extra funding to the Air Force they went with the lower figure. 8 million is just high enough to seem believable but not so high that retaliation would be inevitable. 15 million dead(not including fallout) is a figure in which it seems unlikely that any surrender might happen. 8 million is just high enough to be bad but not so high that it implies the country is gone anyway so might as well fire back with all that is left.
Part of it is a Museum now. There's a B-52D 55-0679 parked there. It flew quite a few missions over Vietnam. Yea putting A SAC base in that spot wasn't smart. LA gets hit and the base.
Dr: The aircraft would have moved to other bases further from the coast that allowed longer alert time, OR they would have been placed on a higher alert status. BTW, a 5 minute SLBM missile flight time simply isn't possible as a depressed trajectory.
In the early 80s, the USAF removed B-52s from bases near the coast (Loring AFB, ME; Robins AFB, GA, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, FaIrchild AFB, WA and March). And of course, the B-52 fleet has been greatly downsized over the last 40 years. Only 76 still in service, at Barksdale AFB, LA and Minot AFB, ND. They will soldier on for another 25 years before retirement.
Yes-no. For 30 of 40 years since making this document, B-52s have been operating against enemies that had nothing able to reach it, not what was projected as XXIst century Soviet Air Defence.
I'm asking a question...... There was a CBS series related to this..... But Can't Find the name of the episode. It was a series, maybe three (3) or five (5) episodes, came on late in the PST, I Think it was an hour program.
@@jjj6043 Thanks 'J JJ', but I don't think it was shown in the US.... Although, I understand that it was..... how could I say objectively, fascinatingly Scary!!
@@catsandfriends5918 Well, 'The Day After' was an Extremely Scary docu!! I saw it during the mid-80's, if I'm not mistaken, and when I Enlisted, I swore that I would NOT be of any ground unit ( Army nor Marine ) because I would be in Europe with a nine (9) minute survival time if 'da Balloon went up'!!! Nor would I join the AF, would be able to get my plane off the ground fast enuf!! So I enlisted into the Navy and IF I were to be on a sub, I could Not have to worry about it Too Much!! Served for 20+ years, survived Panama, Libya, Iraq, and 9/11!
@@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P Threads was shown in the US on public broadcast Service (PBS) The same network that gave the world "I, Claudius" one of the best uses of TV ever ...
Even in the event of a surprise attack the US at all times has the capability to respond with equal or greater force. The only way this situation could happen would be all subs in base and a Russian launch from subs off the coast.
Well we sure solved a) the problems of the end of the 70s...now we have the opposite problem of less MERVS but 1000s of Tactical smaller and more accurate for each single Balistic carrier.
This documentary was made in 1979. Within ten years, the Berlin Wall came down and two years later in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. Now, Russia cannot even beat Ukraine!
There are open outside lines in all missile holes. Nothing unusual there. Most of the time, the crews were watching VHS movies...just waiting for the alert tones and warnings.
These guys today would s*** a brick if they only knew that the United States Air Force was going to be operating b-52h bombers clear into 2050 (projected). In 2022 from the Davis-Monthan AFB Boneyard 2 have been pulled out at and are currently being restored, upgraded, and repurposed for use by the USAF for deterrence and other uses by the USA. Currently the United States Air Force operates only 76 b-52h heavy bombers out of the 776 that were built since 1950. Most of the other ones were either lost and other Wars and or retired and put out into the Boneyard. 1 of which tail number 61-00034 "wise guy" recently was brought to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center for restoration, repurpose, and resurrection into the USAF for detterance and other uses. Other B52's are expected to be reused over the next few years as others are put in Air Depot for repairs and rotation for maint requirements. So in otherwords , there's plenty more where that came from.
Like the silo scene, guy trying to get a date over the phone, alarms go off"hey I have to let you go, I have to destroy the world,ok"
Actually, that is one of the few realistic scenes in the whole video.
@TOXICFLOWZSHOW it's the opposite - the day after used clips from first strike
He got zapped
Parts of this film were used in the 1983 ABC TV movie "the Day After" and it made the movie much more interesting.
Bill Van Cleave was my department head after he moved the Strategic Studies department from USC to Missouri State. He was a great professor and a good friend, he passed away in 2013.
RIP Bill
Your a lucky man.
Please tell me more about the Strategic Studies Department moving.
@@californiaslastgasp6847 He was at USC for many years, then (by his telling) he had a complete falling out with the USC faculty senate in 1985 or 86, and at the same time the new president of then SW Missouri State was looking for ways to increase the school's visibility. Bill was originally from Missouri, so they agreed that he would re-locate the department to SW Missouri State (which at that time offered no doctoral degrees, so it was a master's program only). I believe 1987 was the year he began at SMSU. The program is still part of Missouri State but has physically relocated to Fairfax VA, outside Washington DC. Much easier to get guest speakers and faculty from the defense establishment when they don't have to fly to Springfield MO.
@@jobu88 Many of the faculty still in the program studied under or were colleagues with van Cleave, IIRC.
I'm Australian, I remember being at primary school in the late '70's being shown a show called 'Beyond the News' that showed where we'd be safe in event of a Soviet nuclear attack. Every capital city was a target, the only safe place was south central WA.
Can't help but think of the movie "The Day After". Who is here after thinking about the "Russia-Ukraine" situation?
Especially giving the fact that Putin said that any country that intervenes will face "destruction which has never been seen" or something like that. Scary stuff indeed.
I have "The Day After" in my digital movie collection. I am planning to watch it, "Countdown to Looking Glass", and "By Dawn's Early Light" this weekend (February 26-27, 2022).
Unlike in this movie, Russia has hypersonic missilery which travel faster than sound. That 20 minute wait over the North Pole no longer applies.
@@StarFleet_Tech1701 Also makes our National Missile Defense useless. Putin flexed his hypersonic missile capability by using it to strike inside Ukraine. I hope we have some secret aces in the hole.
@@StarFleet_Tech1701 Testament is another nuclear war outcome film, though it is basically just covers a suburb post fallout. No war scenes.
Those crew cab trucks are worth a fortune these days. Very rare
HOw can the B-52 operate in 1995? Well now it looks like it will be flying in service on its 100th birthday. One hell of an airframe!
Keep doing SLEP.
Amazing, designed by a bunch of white guys with compasses and slide rules. A perfect aircraft.
She’s a workhorse.
@Random Number Well I can tell you that the folks designing the B-52 we all white males. It was just the times. Our modern sentiments abhor this, however it was true. It sucks but it is just the way it was.
The entire guys of 52 was replaced and IS NOT the same plane , only in appearance.
The Air Force cooperated in the making of this documentary because it was pushing for more funding for the "MX" (later called "Peacekeeper") missile. That weapon was ultimately developed, deployed and was retired in the '90s after the end of the Cold War.
Don't forget the B-1..they were pushing for that too. 🙄😒
BTW, my eye-roll isn't calling into question the need for Strategic Weapons, just the stupidity of all the money put into the B-1 instead of upgrading and re-engining the B-52 which was always going to be cheaper to fly and a much greater deterrent than the B-1 ever was (as neither threatened the USSR in anything but the carriage of ALCMs and the B-52 could deliver them farther and cheaper, etc.)
@@nucflashevent
A lot of the sheer waste was because of conservative think tanks attacking the Carter Administration over canceling the B-1 even though
a lot of the people on them were former members of the Nixon/Ford Administrations and had some knowledge of the development of
what would become the B-2.
@@nucflashevent Don't forget that over time the B-1 ultimately replaced the F-111's. It didn't happen overnight but it still happened. The idea was that the B-52 can be used as a standoff weapon and launch a BUNCH of cruise missiles, the B-1 is a low level fast bomber that can evade radar and hit other difficult targets. The B-2 is capable of high altitude drops wherever it feels like because of it's stealth capability. That's what the theory was anyway.
@@UAL012 Yeah, the F-111's job was split between the B-1 for supersonic strategic bombing and the F-15E for tactical bombing **but** your point isn't lost (and is very accurate as the B-52 and B-2.) This is the problem even now. EVEN the United States...a country not known for having a problem coming up with defense spending, lol...can't afford to replace every single non-stealthy platform with a stealth equivalent. Stealth aircraft are great, but frankly when you knock out an enemies RADAR capability, **every** airplane in your arsenal is suddenly a stealth airplane, lol.
This is one reason I'm very glad that the B-21 is moving forward (all stealth aircraft are expensive, you might as well focus on long range, heavy stealth bombers if you're going to spend the money, etc.) and the B-52s are scheduled to finally be re-engined and upgraded with glass cockpits.
@Joe Barone Indeed!
02:40 onwards....anyone who watched the movie "The Day After" would remember some parts coming from "First Strike".
Some of it was used in War Games as well.
About that... Note at 6:33 he says there's "ICBMs, numerous ICBMs" on their way, but he then doesn't go on to say "Over three hundred missiles inbound now." Do you or anyone else know if some of this movie ended up on the cutting room floor?
I also notice that although the footage is slightly different, you can tell by his eye movements that it's the same take.
yeah just noticed
@@launch4 I always wondered about that as well.
Also The Beale scene 3:48. In the movie he says "We got 32 targets in track, with 10 impacting points", before asking is this an exercise.
Yet on this documentary he doesn't say it
Poor Missileer, never got a chance to deliver his warheads into his date.
Alot of the women in rual missuri&kansas would be like sliding into a silo
@@rdm5190 damn lol
I’m in Regina, Saskatchewan in 🇨🇦 just north of Minot. A coworker of mine has a kid in the military who said we’re close enough to Minot, ND that if someone tried to take out missile silos there we’d get wiped off the map too.
IF........... Such a thing were to happen, be fortunate. Or you could be Denmark during this Nightmare of a War!!
The Russians did not have as accurate navigation on their ICBMs as the USA. They compensated by generally using higher yield warheads to make
up for it.
@don s MM 1, 2, or 3? They all had different payloads.
Here in Yorkton SK as well
@@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P fast forward to 2022, Putin is moving us closer every day. God help us all.
This is, for me, part pure terror, part nostalgia.
Same. I grew up in the suburbs east of LA in the late 70s - my friends and I worked out that between downtown LA, March AFB and the San Onofre nuclear plants we were all right royally screwed in the event of a full on nuclear war.
I still remember my "duck and cover" drills too !
Dad worked nuke. You got his toys, imagine my nightmares. Lol
I agree. I was in the US Navy from 1979 to 1991. What I find particularly chilling is how casually, almost glibly, these people talk about all-out, global, thermo-nuclear war, like they are arm-chair quarterbacking a college bowl game.
Nostalgia turns Dejá vū!
@don s I worked in HF communications at Thule AB, Greenland starting in 1988. I have worked those aircraft back in the day.
Note how General Autery (the general on the plane) is bored because he knows it's just another exercise.
but after he was told it was not an exercise he still acted bored
@@blitzmom2674 He has to behave nonchalant to not freak out his crew so they perform.
Saw this documentary on multiple occasions during my USAF career. General Autery was known to generations of Air Force audiences as “General Qualude,” for his unflappable calm in the face of absolute disaster
That was around 1980 when they tried to sell those MX Missiles. Today none of them are in service, but Minuteman III still are.
That's because the Minuteman IIIs replaced the MX.
The problem with this idea is that it assumes *everyone* wants to avoid annihilation. These days, there are lots of people who would gladly go down, if they could take the world with them.
Maybe, but how many of them have 100's of ICBMs?
They never got to check out the Hacienda.
🤣🤣
They just got to "check out"
Sounds like an advert for Defense spending approval...Makes me laugh that 60 years since their introduction the B52s are still running and are expected to still be in service until the 2050's
I'll laugh out loud (or not...) if USAF maintain a few B-52s untile B-21s are withdrawn from service :D just for kicks of it. Hell, one aircraft :D
They showed this to us in 1987 when I was in the USAF for Tech School.
Did they play it on a big video disc player? Lol I remember going into a Navy recruiter's office and watching the video, that was around 1990 or so, about the only place I saw one of those bigger disc players. The military must have put in a big order for em.
@@kbanghart I was going to to an Air Base with Nuclear Weapons and they tried to justify to the class the need for a strong Nuclear deterrence against the Soviets. It was on VCR tape when they played it to us.
@@kbanghart The USN would show this pro-USAF film? Lol
@@californiaslastgasp6847 why?
@@kbanghart The gist of this USAF-produced film is that SLBMs suck and ICBMs are better.
Turn your key, sir!
Would you like to play a game?
@@archlich4489 i got to call it in this has got to be a mistake is there a drill today!
Makes Thai stick look like oregano
Who had Putin attacking nuclear power plants with artillery on their 2022 BINGO card?
Hearing these guys talk about B-52's being old in 1979...
B-52's still in service in 2022.
They couldn't have picked a better narrator than Agent Smith
is that him ?
@@ech0labsNo
William J. Perry is still around and still consulting on this stuff.
...and, he is now anti-nuke.
Is this an MX missile sales advertisement? I'd buy that!!!
Cute how they're talking about $50 Billion as a prohibitive cost. Nowadays such an amount is peanuts, we just paid Trillions on Covid relief. Heck, we gave 15 Billion to airlines as bailouts. I realized 50 Billion was a lot more money in the early 80s but still...
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV, Jesus Christ is the only way. It is impossible to lose salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV. Once Saved Always Saved is true..
And here we go again folks. Hopefully we can look back on this comment years from now and say we made it.
I was a teenager during the 80's and I was certain beyond any doubt that there would be a war. It affected the man I became.
I was a teen in ‘82 and ‘83 and quite terrified for a good portion of that time. Not without reason, as it turns out. The Russians thought we were planning a first strike with our Pershing 2’s with their 10-minute flight time. Very dangerous time.
Well, I was also a teen and my feelings were the same. I think we are currently looking down the Russian nuclear barrel as I write this on 4/30/2022
Funny how back then Perry was all for the advanced 10-warheaded MX/Peacekeeper ICBM but today wants to be rid of ICBMS or nuclear weapons all together
Rather interesting that they mention the B-52 as having a service life just till the 90s. Back in the 70s when much of this was filmed of course things were different. Now the BUFF might be retired in the 2040s if not beyond. A testament to the brilliance of its deign first going into service in 1955.. Far outliving the expectations of strategists of long ago. By the time the -52 is retired it will be approaching 100 years of service. No other aircraft can match that. That's how great it truly is.
TU-95. It's even older, more beautiful and expected to serve until the 2040s. You have much to learn yet padwan.
@@GrassPossum never will be as capable as the -52. Not now not ever. Especially after the -52 gets its new engines which are already on the pipeline. Nice try though. The Bear is truly good but just not as good.
@@VettemanLT5 LOL Dream on. Actual military analysts disagree. Everything great the US military has is always only CGI and promises for the future. Your arms industry is a giant white elephant and the USA dare not get into a shooting match with Russia, we all know why. Because they can't afford to have their useless weapons systems shown up, which they will be. Then you'd have NO exports left at all.
@@GrassPossum well gee. You have it all figured out don't you. Look at what just happened to the pride of the garbage Russian navy bud. You're simply clueless. But it's okay kiddo. Let your Russian buddies fuck around. Eventually it's only going to fuck them in the ass. 'Cos of course if we ever actually helped Ukraine (which we should not) with a bunch of A-10's and F-35's against those stuck miles-long convoys their Su-25's would kill them all right? F-15E-s?? The F-15C or the -16's and -18's would just be stopped by the Russians? Just like magic? These fucks can't even field an aircraft carrier like we can bud. No one can. It's called power projection. Stop your delusion bud. Besides the Russian economy isn't that great. That's why they lost the Cold War they simply couldn't keep up LMAO!!!
@@GrassPossum Actually the TU-95 was based on an early design for the B-52 that was rejected because of the advances made in jet engines. The original B-52 of 1946 was to be a turboprop and it resembles the Tu-95. The Tu-95 is also a remarkable aircraft too, either of them, although they carry cruise missiles for the most part, I'm sure they can still be used in the bomber role given the right crews, circumstances, tactics (I suggest coming in low and nape of the Earth) and of course, luck, God, whatever you believe in.
This appears to have been made in early 80s - back then B-52s were on 24 hour airborne alert with bombers waiting in the air at Fail Safe points. The idea that nearly all but 22 B-52s would be destroyed on the ground was wrong.
There was a NO Shit Red Scare throughout my time in the hardened Minuteman III silos, across the mind-numbingly frozen tundra of the Minot AFB missile complex, in the early to mid 80s. In the three years that me and my team were in the fields of those missile squadrons (1982-85),
this period was also considered the "hottest" time in the ICBM Cold War. As far as I'm concerned, I was the 4th finger in line to Armageddon. The President, the MCCC, the DMCCC, and me, the Cageman (yes, there were many knuckles involved, like the MMT team chief. But, through our singular and unique actions, our fingers were ultimately the ones that "turned the keys").
I don't think you would have the guts to turn the key.
Turn a key and kill of horrible dead millions? I think before that i prefer put a bullet on my own head
@@HBO1984. If Soviet missiles were on the way you had no choice.
Nothing wrong with fear. All soldiers feel it during their duty to their homelands. Man had a job to do and he did it. Personally I have always admired the humor they had with things like delivery in 30 minutes guaranteed dominos pizza joke or the death wears bunny slippers military patch.
Pre-emptive nuclear strike may wipe out most land targets but it will not disarm and incapacitate the enemy. If you have SSBNs then you can always retaliate with a massive nuclear strike, unless you have John Anthony Walker working against you.
Many of these clips were used to make the NBC film The Day After. Although, most people probably knew that already. 😂
ABC not NBC
It is interesting that they jumped from the B-52 bomber reference, to the B-1 Bomber. We HAD (note past tense) a High Speed bomber that was taken out of service only after 10 years, and that was the B-58 Hustler, a Mach 2 nuclear capable bomber platform. Now we have the B-2, already 30 years old in service, but the B-21 (little brother to the B-2) is coming up the ranks. Perhaps another stealth type cruise missile needs to be created or resurrected?
Why? The US already has overwhelming superiority worldwide. You blow over $700bn every year, that's enough, no?
General Hammond we got an incomming wormhole.
I wonder how many of these men knew the F117 was in our inventory and the B2 was close to completion.
In 1987, a German flew a Cessna from Helsinki to Moscow, landing on the Red Square, in 2047, those B52 bombers built in 1962 will be still ready, that's the outlook.
Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he was not bluffing on the use of nuclear weapons and ordered partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in a last-ditch effort to turn the war in Ukraine in his favour....[22 September 2022]
Love this stuff it takes me back the soundtrack is killer too!!!!!
2:05 Isn't the use of Tab on our troops a Geneva Conventions violation?
Lol!
History is repeating itself. This video is very relevant to today’s circumstances.
You got that right!!!!
Nuclear War: Bad
Tab Cola: Worse
Yeah I saw that can 'O' Tab and thought, Yecch!
I had a bad experience with Tab when I was a kid. It was the late 70s and I was 9 I think. Took one swig and was like "This is the pop they serve in Hell"
Our captain on the Kitty hawk drank Tab.
Lol
When I was a kid my Mom opened a bottle of Tab and there was a woman's hair roller stuffed inside. Gross!
I was part of the 7th MWS US Space Command at PAVE PAWS West from 85 to 87
Holly shit, any idea what type of device would be used on my city Wroclaw, Poland, Europe?
I was a civilian at the 12th Space Warning Squadron, Thule AB, Greenland BMEWS for quite a while. BMEWS and PAVE PAWS are cousins.
Had an MX model rocket as an 80s kid.
Damn those old B52s smoky the new engines are much cleaner
Used to be a secret. When we had Titans at 3 bases, we only needed to get 5 off the ground at a base to destroy the USSR, we were gonna do that 3 times over. 15 titan II missiles were enough to render the USSR uninhabitable for the 10,000 years. GLCMs and Rail Garrison were great systems. Minuteman on rails.
And thankfully, it was a waste of money that was never put to use!
Except for the psychological pressure that the ‘MAD’ doctrine represented.
It DID keep the ‘trigger happy’ sides of the cold war subdued after all.
I’m grateful that the efforts to “improve” ICBM performance, were directed toward, and eventually channeled into what we know today as the ‘Space Race.’
Even though the Russians beat the Americans in the race to the moon by 9 3/4 years.
time.com/5629033/every-mission-moon-chart/
Uh, Titan had a single 9Mt warhead...and the USSR was very big.
@@ShikataGaNai100 You must remember the entire nation was not re,ally the target. The government and the military sites were. The titan was more than an match for any of those, but thanks for the input. It is much appreciated. Critical thinking is fun.
@@1ask2risk I think we all know by what we've seen in Ukraine, the current Russian government does not care about military targets.
What they do not mention is the improved accurosy of the trident sub launch missile. About half of the US nuclear deterant is now in the 14 trident subs.
With all pitches for more military funding you have part reality, part fantasy, part paranoia. Overexagerating soviet military equipment, for example. Without exception, with reality of all soviet (and Russian after that) military doctrine and equipment has been far inferior to what was once feared. Short of b52's getting annihilated over the USSR (as they would have), Russia didn't have a prayer of winning a war.
Of course nuclear war is unwinnable in the minds of the sane. "The only winning move is not to play"
Well I think we have to go this through after all.
Chernobyl pretty much put an end to the Soviet threat. They were too busy for the next several years, fighting one helluva monster of their own creation. Thanks to an RBMK reactor and a guy named Dyatlov.
And that was a light breeze, compared to the hurricane of all-out nuclear war.
Fast forward to 2022 and Putin is destroying Ukraine, threating to nuke Sweden, Finland and even Canada. Flew nuclear armed aircraft into Sweden airspace. Appears Cold War 2 has started and the Iron Curtain is going back up.
Still have the same opinion?
40 years on... B-52s are still the main stay.. B-1s are the next bomber to be decommissioned and B-52s are expected to last until 2050 making the air frames 90 years old on a 100 year old design.
The irony is, the B-52 is still in service. It will outlast both the B1 Lancer, and B2 Stealth Spirit Bombers. The B-52 is expected to be flying 100 years after entering service before it is finally retired. If things keep going the way they are in the world, it will participate in WW3.
Funny how they have the B-52 sounding like that.She’s a screamer.
It’s probably caused by the 1,200 gallons of demineralized war used for heavy “wet” takeoffs. The H model B-52s had the early generation TF-33 fans and did not use water for extra thrust.
A Madness that made a small number of people and corporations very wealthy.
It would be good to see an updated version of this disturbing film looking at worldwide threats as they are now 30 years later, but is it pointless for any country to think about retaliation against a nuclear strike? Wouldn’t any large initial nuclear strike from any country bring about a nuclear winter, worldwide contamination and the loss of all life?
What’s the point of spending a fortune building up defences? All that such spending could achieve is the satisfaction that the initial targeted country, now with millions dead, could kill millions in the country which made the initial launch, killing more will not save the world.
Countdown To Zero is a more modern documentary
330 B-52s then, 100 now, wonder how many they plan on having by the end of their service.
100 is still an insane amount of bombers considering the airframe age. Absolutely incredible maintenance.
2/3rds were destroyed as part of SALT.
The surviving subs could nuke the USSR several times over. Added to the Looking Glass airborne command post, it would be mutually assured destruction.
Then the Soviets will fulfill the ultimatum that they explicitly warned to the US with the guarantee of all the Urban center's of the United States Destroyed.
Of course many of the Soviet Unions Cities will be destroyed but the USA will ceased to exist while the Soviet Union can call this a "minor" victory with the Global Economy completely destroyed, while the Warsaw Pact Armies are intact to conquered a demoralized Western Europe.
Also we do not know how many SSBN's are even operational while out to sea with the possibility of 10 more American Boomers sunk by Soviet Submarines.
Obviously the American President in this scenario is very weak and prefers to save the rest of his country instead of avenging the 8 million fallen American's.
Still choosing to save what's left of America vs Avenging American service man and delivering swift justice to the Soviets is a very hard decisions to make, your dammed either way once you make that decision as the President.
Either play the Long game of diplomacy to isolate the Soviet Union Internationally OR play the short game of guaranteed destruction of the free world.
@@johnmurphy5689 For the time period.
I'd do my best to get into contact with the subs, I figure there has to be at least 5-10 left.
I have 46 minuteman's left? I'm sending 20 to their strategic assets. 13 to their Cities. The remaining 13 will be split between Warsaw pact countries. At least they won't take Western Europe.
Everyone is going to get it. Might have the few subs I have left hit China.
I read Putin believes he could win a nuclear was with the USA. They have invested heavily in their nuclear force and just flexed a hypersonic missile in Ukraine. I dont understand why everyone just cant stay in their own yard and play nice.
@@complexblackness lol
@@richgilmour5924 Lol
Imagine if you're POTUS and this country is hit by an All-Out Nuclear attack. Yes it was limited to Strategic/Counter force targets. Yet millions of Americans are dead and it's safe to assume hundreds of thousands will be dying in the next few weeks.
This was an unprovoked attack.
Keeping with the Time period I have 46 Minuteman III's left. Each with three 170kt warheads, which leaves me the ability to hit 138 targets.
Well 138 targets are getting hit across Russia, China, The Warsaw Pact and North Korea.
We all dying then, no one is winning.
The hell with that, lol. It's a terrible decision to have to make.
It's almost like you have to make them pay for forcing you, to make such a decision.
The only winning move is not to play
Would you like a nice game of chess ? 😉
When the Soviet Union collapsed three decades ago, a lot of people were pleased that Cold War was over and eternal peace was realized. But nothing has changed since them. Danger of nuclear wars still exist in Ukraine, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula etc. I wonder what we have learned since then.
They pinched loads of clips from this for the movie The Day After. I didn't realise that until very recently. I'm not in the US, btw..
Interesting to google the number of nuclear 'incidents' that have occurred over the years and read about the likes of Vasily Arkhipov and Stanislav Petrov. Both heroes and both Russian. Oppenheimer could not have been more correct when he said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
1983: #RainerRupp (a DDR spy) was able to inform #HVA and #KGB that it was indeed only an exercise, but they still didn’t believe him until he was able, at the last minute, to provide them with #NATO highly classified documentation to prove his assertion. See more at NATO Able Archer, USSR Ryan operation.
This seems to just chunks from "The Day after"??
It's pretty much "The Day After" without the human element.
Other way around. This came out in 1979, four years before The Day After.
These interviews all were saying the same thing." Spend much more on nuclear weapons and defense.!"
Been there done that - Schilling AFB - 550th SMS
A collection of Dr Strangeloves
Doesn’t seem so remote again in my life.
US European Command is at DEFCON 2. This is the 80's all over again.....or even the Cuban Crisis.
That's what happens when one "defends" democracy in a shithole country :)
I remember being in SAC in the 1980s and how we would take bets on whether or not our b-52s could get off the ground without losing a wing
🤣🤯🤣🤯🤣
Why would it lose wing???
@@crnalegija9 old and dilapidated.
@@nonamegame9857 thanks, that’s what I thought but I was thinking there is maybe some other joke
@@nonamegame9857 BULLFUCKINGSHIT...about the BUFF and your so-called service.
@@ShikataGaNai100 you are one ignorant sob and you probably even voted for the same guy that called you a loser and a sucker so go follow your Cheeto Jesus and shut the hell up with your demented ignorance.
Keep in mind this concept along with strategy was published 40 YEARS ago. The new "boogeyman" is China.
And this is why all bombers have been moved to bases in the center of the US . Here where I live on the west coast, all the bombers are gone. Mather and Castle AFBs are closed, Beale is Recon and March is logistic. I live up the road from Beale. I am a USAF Cold War Veteran.
Russia is still a boogeyman.
The way I see it, Russia's nuclear arsenal is the only thing that makes them a threat to us from a military perspective. However, their conventional forces pose a credible threat to our NATO allies.
Does China have ballistic missile submarines?
Yes. They have one Type 092 (NATO: Xia-class) and six Type 094s (NATO: Jin-class) SSBNs.
I met General Autery (RIP) at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB in 1971. He was flying an RF-4C.
Due to combat losses, a lot of SAC and MAC pilots were moved into fighter cockpits. I served in a SAC tanker group in the mid-80s; the commander, deputy commander for operations and deputy commander for maintenance were all career KC-135 pilots, but each did a tour in RF-4Cs in Vietnam. Pre and Post-strike recce was a risky business, especially in an unarmed aircraft
disturbing. chilling. round and round we go....
Misleading and an advertisement for the MX missile.
Ironically, the US Navy solved the problem of SLBMs only serving as second strike weapons (Trident II) and the Air Force bomber wing also solved the problem of bomber penetration (B1B and B2). All three legs of the triad strengthened in the 80s for the US.
Russian attack subs offshore can launch cruise missile attacks.
The Trident II SLBM and the Ohio Class Submarine as well as the B-2 was already in development during the Carter years. Indeed, most
of the windfall of next-generation weapons that would define the US military of the Reagan era, were either already being fielded or were close
to being fielded during the Carter years.
Had Reagan not become President, the only weapons system that wouldn't have been fielded would be the B-1b. Carter invested in updating the B-52
fleet with ALCMs and may well have put or defense dollars to better use giving the B-52 new engines so they could serve as a stop-gap until the B-2
arrived.
Under limited nuclear war scenarios, Tridents become 1st strike weapons, along with Russian Yasen class subs armed with hypersonic cruise missiles off US coasts.
@@TheLAGopher Under Putin, Russian modernized it's triad with rail and road-mobile ICBMs, hypersonic glide warheads, Borei SSBN with Bulava SLBMs, Poseidon nuclear-powered drone torpedoes, modernized Blackjack supersonic bombers, and the stealth PAKDA bombers armed with Skyfafall nuclear-powered cruise missiles that can loiter for years.
Even more ironically, neglected ICBM / land base leg.
The 2 guys headed down the elevator in the beginning were real Missalears! Im sure they retired by now but during the filming of "The Day after" they were not actors.
'8 million Americans are dead.' Leaving aside the fact that this completely ignores the impact of fallout which would add at a minimum 20 million dead this figure of 8 is at the lower end of an attack on only the nuclear detterent. Most estimates made showed between 10-20 million dead.Those estimates also ignored estimated deaths from attacks on the various civilian airports put at 10 million. In reality those would be targeted. In practice the difference between a counterforce and countervalue strike in terms of dead isn't that big. Once you factor in fallout related deaths the differences get quite small. Of course since this short film was meant to bring some extra funding to the Air Force they went with the lower figure. 8 million is just high enough to seem believable but not so high that retaliation would be inevitable. 15 million dead(not including fallout) is a figure in which it seems unlikely that any surrender might happen. 8 million is just high enough to be bad but not so high that it implies the country is gone anyway so might as well fire back with all that is left.
This was produced in 1979 - Jimmy Carter's last year in office.
Can't ya' tell.
Go USA.
Carter's last year was 1980.
Having a SAC base in Riverside is *ASKING* for trouble. How are they supposed to get off the ground with 5 min warning from SLBMs?
Part of it is a Museum now.
There's a B-52D 55-0679 parked there. It flew quite a few missions over Vietnam.
Yea putting A SAC base in that spot wasn't smart. LA gets hit and the base.
Dr: The aircraft would have moved to other bases further from the coast that allowed longer alert time, OR they would have been placed on a higher alert status. BTW, a 5 minute SLBM missile flight time simply isn't possible as a depressed trajectory.
In the early 80s, the USAF removed B-52s from bases near the coast (Loring AFB, ME; Robins AFB, GA, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, FaIrchild AFB, WA and March). And of course, the B-52 fleet has been greatly downsized over the last 40 years. Only 76 still in service, at Barksdale AFB, LA and Minot AFB, ND. They will soldier on for another 25 years before retirement.
Many of the scenes in this were ripped-off by 1983's "The Day After".
Where is Airwolf when you need him?
Where is Blue Thunder when you need him?
No mention of Pershing P1a or PII, systems In service at the time was made .
Lol, he was drinking Tab lol
Ahh the perpetual arrogance and self importance of Man.
Part of the reason we deserve extinction
shows how much all these 'experts' new..30 years after this was made the B 52 is still flying and will be for years to come
*knew
yep and the MX missile was built, put in service and is now retired. The Minuteman III and B52 are still going strong.
Yes-no. For 30 of 40 years since making this document, B-52s have been operating against enemies that had nothing able to reach it, not what was projected as XXIst century Soviet Air Defence.
yeah. to hell with that. No surrender at that point
I'm asking a question...... There was a CBS series related to this..... But Can't Find the name of the episode. It was a series, maybe three (3) or five (5) episodes, came on late in the PST, I Think it was an hour program.
Threads it was BBC
You might be thinking of The Day After, which used footage from this documentary ( though I wasn't around when they showed it on TV, so dunno?)
@@jjj6043 Thanks 'J JJ', but I don't think it was shown in the US.... Although, I understand that it was..... how could I say objectively, fascinatingly Scary!!
@@catsandfriends5918 Well, 'The Day After' was an Extremely Scary docu!! I saw it during the mid-80's, if I'm not mistaken, and when I Enlisted, I swore that I would NOT be of any ground unit ( Army nor Marine ) because I would be in Europe with a nine (9) minute survival time if 'da Balloon went up'!!!
Nor would I join the AF, would be able to get my plane off the ground fast enuf!! So I enlisted into the Navy and IF I were to be on a sub, I could Not have to worry about it Too Much!!
Served for 20+ years, survived Panama, Libya, Iraq, and 9/11!
@@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P Threads was shown in the US on public broadcast Service (PBS) The same network that gave the world "I, Claudius" one of the best uses of TV ever ...
My dad worked on the alcm missle was far more lethal and much longer range than this documentary gave it credit.
Even in the event of a surprise attack the US at all times has the capability to respond with equal or greater force. The only way this situation could happen would be all subs in base and a Russian launch from subs off the coast.
Add sleepy Joe into the equation and we are screwed..........
IMO, I think Trump himself was a deterrent. Biden and Harris are brain dead zombies with no spine. The bear decided the time was right to strike.
Well we sure solved a) the problems of the end of the 70s...now we have the opposite problem of less MERVS but 1000s of Tactical smaller and more accurate for each single Balistic carrier.
Tab...a very interesting soda
Sounds like a sales pitch for the MX missile.
This documentary was made in 1979. Within ten years, the Berlin Wall came down and two years later in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. Now, Russia cannot even beat Ukraine!
But they still have nukes. Maybe even non-functioning ones, but who in their right mind would take that risk ?
but the doomsday clock is now in seconds, reportedly.
And so we built a no b.s. gigantic military in that. Make the current Chinese army look modest.
Glad my kid didnt get coded 13N when he commissioned. He got 13S instead.
The Day After 1983 bonus VHS?
I was just going to say this..
With Putin on the loose, this may come to pass after all
05:17 You can call your girl on service lines?? Or that was an input from film director?
He never got to check out the Hacienda.
@Arnold Squirrel You mean the general’s daughter?
There are open outside lines in all missile holes. Nothing unusual there. Most of the time, the crews were watching VHS movies...just waiting for the alert tones and warnings.
Did Norad really have computer map visuals like that back then?
What a fucking nightmare.
These guys today would s*** a brick if they only knew that the United States Air Force was going to be operating b-52h bombers clear into 2050 (projected). In 2022 from the Davis-Monthan AFB Boneyard 2 have been pulled out at and are currently being restored, upgraded, and repurposed for use by the USAF for deterrence and other uses by the USA. Currently the United States Air Force operates only 76 b-52h heavy bombers out of the 776 that were built since 1950. Most of the other ones were either lost and other Wars and or retired and put out into the Boneyard. 1 of which tail number 61-00034 "wise guy" recently was brought to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center for restoration, repurpose, and resurrection into the USAF for detterance and other uses. Other B52's are expected to be reused over the next few years as others are put in Air Depot for repairs and rotation for maint requirements.
So in otherwords , there's plenty more where that came from.
based on how things are going today in 2022, we might need a lot more in service.
Brought to you by military industrial complex
👍👍Top
And that is how you redirect taxpayer money to line the unproductive pockets of the military-industrial complex.
Be glad that money was spent at Putin is waging hot war and trying to start WW3
@@mr.beachwalker7154 Yeah it's totally not as though that could have been avoided from the start by fighting corruption. #lol