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B-52H tests AGM-86B at Minot AFB

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A B-52H bomber assigned to Minot Air Force Base took off with AGM-86B air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) in order to verify that the bomber could supply the required voltage levels to the missile’s interface with the W80-1 nuclear bomb.

Airman 1st Class Eric G. Jarman, a crew chief assigned to the 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, taxis a B-52H Stratofortress, Aug. 12, 2020, at Minot Air Force Base, ND. The purpose of the five to ten year comprehensive test is to demonstrate the capability of the B-52H aircraft to provide the required voltage levels for the mission configuration at the AGM-86B-to-W80 interface. The test data will be analyzed to compare against previous data in order to monitor changes in the baseline, thus indicating a design issue created by aging, aircraft modification, or a combination thereof. The required sample size for this test will meet a historical Sandia National Laboratories requirement of two B-52 aircrafts.(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jesse Jenny)

The Centennial of the Republic of China Air Force

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The Centennial of the Republic of China Air Force
Fighting for China’s Freedom
By: Samuel Hui, legal aide, office of legislator Charles I-hsin Chen, Legislative Yuan, Taiwan

Curtiss Hawk II in Chinese service
Unknown author / Public domain

The Armed Forces Museum in Taipei is holding an exhibition from July to November to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF), established as the Aviation Bureau under Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Constitutional Protection Junta in Guangzhou on November 29, 1920. Because the ROCAF answered to the Kuomintang, rather than the entire Republic, it initially did not receive recognition as the legitimate Chinese Air Force. Considering the Beiyang Government also called itself the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s air force was one of two different ROCAFs at its founding in 1920. However, the Kuomintang’s air force became the only air force that fought to defend China’s freedom during World War II. And eventually, an air force created in mainland China became the guardian of Taiwan’s airspace. The reasons for these turns of fate lie in the complicated history of the Chinese Republic’s early development of military aviation.
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