Well, if the B-1 had been designed for conventional payloads or hadn&#x27;t become such a political promise in the 1980 election, the B-52 would probably have been retired.  Even the B-3 specs don&#x27;t look like something that will retire the B-52.<p>Honestly, I&#x27;m really not sure that the whole justification on &quot;strategic&quot; vs &quot;tactical&quot; bombing that spawned a separate Air Force was such a good idea given the types of wars fought in the nuclear age.