Will Saetren,War on the Rocks
According to the original method, air-launched nuclear cruise missiles should no longer be with us. Conceived as a stop-gap degree to keep the B-52 relevant to the nuclear mission, and the air-launched cruise missile was supposed to be retired when the stealthy B-2 bomber entered into service in the early 1990s. That never happened. The B-2 buy was slashed from 132 aircraft to 21,far too few to replace the B-52-cruise missile combination on a one-for-one basis. So, this weapon remains with us nowadays.
After nearly 40 years, and the air-launched nuclear cruise missile is approaching the end of its...
Source: realcleardefense.com