Too cool to be true: a night sortie on board the B-52 Stratofortress. As seen through the Night Vision Goggles

I’m not sure how many recent wars have begun in the same way: swarms of B-52 Stratofortress bombers start up their engine, taxi and take off in sequence to strike a series of vital targets of the enemy’s air defense system.

A scene that could be played on the opening stages of an air strike on Iran, Syria or North Korea when the +50-yr old bomber could be used to drop the impressive MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) as well.

You can spot the preceding bomber thanks to the blinking navigation lights immediately after take off and, at the end of the footage (recorded during a Red Flag 12-4 sortie) the impressive Las Vegas light pollution as the aircraft line up for landing at Nellis Air Force Base.

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.