Operation Desert Storm marked the final curtain for the Boeing B-52G variant, the most numerous Stratofortress sub-variant, with 193 examples built.
The USAF had started to phase the B-52G out of service in 1989, retiring them to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center 'boneyard' at Davis-Monthan AFB where they were guillotined into five sections to comply with the conditions of the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) agreement.
With an official total of 74 aircraft deployed (64 Primary Aircraft Authorised plus ten reserves), the B-52G was one of the mainstays of Desert Storm – only the A-6 Intruder, A-10 Thunderbolt and F-16 Fighting Falcon were deployed in larger numbers. These aircraft, with 155 crews, flew more than 1,600 sorties (sources vary as to the exact number), representing just over three per cent of the total. In the process, B-52s dropped some 72,289 weapons (mainly 500lb Mk 82 bombs, 750lb M117s, and CBU-87 and CBU-89 cluster bombs). These accounted for about 30 per cent of the total US bomb tonnage…