The United States has the most robust fleet of strategic bombers on Earth. For a generation, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has kept the same three bombers in rotation: the B-1 Lancer, the B-2 Spirit, and the B-52 Stratofortress. Between the three, the United States has a versatile set of options, from stealth to supersonic, from precise to massive. 

The strategic bomber lineup, as it currently exists, will soon end, however; the B-1 and the B-2 are slated for retirement while the B-21 Raider is expected to join the fleet sometime in the next several years. But let’s take a look at the USAF’s bomber lineup as it currently exists, as the most complete in the world.

The B-1 Lancer

The B-1 began life as a political football. The Carter administration canceled the project, believing that intercontinental ballistic missiles could perform the role of the B-1. And had Carter won reelection in 1980, the B-1 likely would have never been produced. But the Reagan........

© The National Interest