The B-52 bomber has been in service for over 50 years demonstrating the soundness of its design. Early models featured a 20 mm multi-barrel cannon for defense. But its placement in the tail limited effectiveness, since incoming threats could approach from outside the cannon's field of fire. Against anti-aircraft missiles such as the Soviet SAM missile, manuevering, flares, and other passive defense measures were used but B-52s, AWACs and other large aircraft are not very agile and flares do nothing to destroy the threat or its source.
AWACs with their massive radome are not very manoeuvrable and their critical importance in aircraft control would make it a high priority to destroy them early in a conflict. Fighter escorts to protect AWACs can be overloaded if a sufficient number of missiles, UAVs, fighters, or a combination of, are used with appropriate tactics to attack escort and AWAC at the same time.
One way to increase defensive capabilities of B-52s, AWACs, etc. is to use fuselage or main wing mounted turrets, equipped with missiles instead of guns. The turret contains a missile launcher fed by a box-type magazine (i.e. pistol) that extends into the pylon supporting the turret. Turret doors similar in design to those used for telescope observatories open for missile launch and allow the missile launcher to be aimed at different elevations. The turret also houses a radar system that provides the option to use it to direct the missile towards the target until IR sensors lock or operate the turret independently of other turrets or human intervention to deal with multiple threats from different directions and altitude.
The missile used to equip the radome-turret is comparable in size and performance to a portable shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The effective range is less than larger missiles such as the Side-winder, but more than sufficient to prevent incoming threats armed with a conventional warhead or cannon getting close enough to be effective. Any advantage gained in using longer range missiles to deal with multiple threats is offset by the turret's ability to rapidly position and fire a multiple number of lower cost missiles.

By ldkinfo on Mar 13, 2010 at 3:51 pm

I found a great website for military history and the American civil war. http://www.wig-wags.com It was created by a graduate student studying Military history.

By Travis Thorpe on Mar 17, 2010 at 4:45 pm