The discussion I believe was about the B-36. It flew above the
absolute ceiling of contemporary MiG fighters. The British begged for
a chance to challenge the 36, but the USAF wisely ignored them. No
American fighter of the time could get up there, and no Russian
either.

In tests over Florida, in the rare cases where an interceptor could
match the 36's altitude, all the bomber had to do was execute a slow
turn. When the fighter matched it, it fell away. And nobody knows if
the 36 was flying at its absolute ceiling in those tests; evidently it
could go much higher.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 11:07:48 -0500, "Dennis O'Connor"
wrote:

Given that the soviet planners had thought all this through, in my mind it
is unlikely that a single bomber would have gotten through... The soviets
had rings of interceptor squadrons, numbering in the thousands - cheap,
short range, totally expendable, fast climbing jet fighters... Each bomber
would have been like a sparrow flying into one cloud of hornets after
another... That is why ICBM's are the weapon of deterrence, not bombers...

all the best -- Dan Ford
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