THE B-52 bombers which left Guam heading for Iraq this morning can each carry 20 cruise missiles and need not land before reaching their target area.
The aircraft is the US Air Force's primary manned strategic bomber and allows the Americans to inflict massive damage on Iraqi targets without committing ground or other air forces.
There was speculation in Washington last night that the US Air Force might also deploy its "B2" stealth bombers to attack Iraqi armoured divisions moving into the exclusion zone in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq.
No announcement was made about the possibility of B2 bombers being deployed to northern Iraq but in the past week there have been reports that this aircraft was being used in exercises to attack armour in desert areas. However, early today the weight of comment coming from Washington tended to suggest that air strikes by the B52 heavy bomber were more likely.
Given the distance to be covered by the B-52s flying from the Pacific, it may not be until later this evening before the aircraft are in position to carry out strikes.
The US Air Force heavy bomber was used extensively and to tremendous effect during the previous conflict in the Persian Gulf when it delivered 40 per cent of all ordnance dropped by the coalition air forces, according to US statistics.
During the Gulf War, B-52s were flown from a US Air Force base at Barksdale, Louisiana, to carry out strikes in the Gulf. They returned to the US after 35 hours non stop flying. These operations were the longest air strikes ever undertaken in aerial warfare.
The US-launched B-52 attacks included missions in which cruise missiles were dispatched.
The Micronesian island of Guam is nearer to Iraq than north America, but the aircraft should still take at least 16 hours to reach their target area.
During the Gulf War the B-52s struck at Iraqi troop concentrations and fixed installations. The aircraft's heavy bombing of Iraqi positions is credited with destroying the Iraqi army's morale during the Gulf War.
As well as the computer guided cruise missiles, the B-52s carry 2,000lb bombs and "smart" weapons, gravity bombs, cluster bombs and other guided missiles. They also carry their own electronic counter measure defences.
The aircraft is one of the most distinctive and recognisable war machines of the second half of the 20th century. It featured centrally in Stanley Kubrick's surreal anti war film Dr Strangelove, when one of the aircraft was accidentally allowed to carry out a bombing mission on Soviet Russia, inadvertently starting a nuclear holocaust.
It first came into operation in 1961 and has undergone several upgrades.