Darrell S wrote:
"KDR" wrote in message
ups.com...
A 1968 letter from Defense Secretary Clifford to State Secretary Rusk
at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/jo...b/xii/2262.htm mentioned
that the air bases in Spain were originally built for SAC operations
and some B-58 bombers and accompanying tankers were earmarked for
forward deployment there.

How many refuels were needed for a fully-laden B-58 to bomb its target
in the USSR and come back to Spain?

On a side note, Vice Admiral Gerald E. Miller wrote in his book
"Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers" that the Navy RA-5C Vigilantes
- operating from carriers in the Bay of Biscay - were assigned to
targets in Eastern Europe.

Darrell S wrote:
Probably 2 refuelings since the B-58's were first kept in Texas and later
in
Arkansas and Indiana.


Thanks for the reply but what I want to know is the number of required
refuelings when the B-58s flew from bases in Spain to bomb targets in
the USSR and come back to Spain.

B-58s were not "based" in Spain. We occasionally flew B-58s there for
weapon loading practice and to test the ability to deploy them there if the
situation required it. I flew one from Madrid to Little Rock after another
crew had flown it from Little Rock to Spain. There may have been some
contingency plans but, as aircrews, we never studied them or considered
them. When the ballistic missile threat from submarines off our coasts
reduced the early warning time we began deploying some B-58s to other bases
but they were in the U.S.. This was done to reduce the possiblility of them
all being wiped out before any could launch.

Potential war sorties out of the U.S. did not include returning to the U.S..
Post strike bases were on the periphery of the Soviet Union and China.
But... IF... the B-58 were to launch from Spain, strike USSR, and return, it
should not require any air refuelings except for very long sorties deep into
Eastern USSR..

Thanks a lot for the reply. Did the post-strike bases on the periphery
of the Soviet Union and China include bases in South Korea, Taiwan and
Japan?