During the early 1990s, giant guillotines in Tuscan, Arizona cut up and destroyed about US5.5 billion dollars worth of B-52 bombers. These were the B-52G bomber.
In today's terms, each B-52G bomber cost about US30 million dollars to build. Over 190 were built. Of these about 10 were placed into museums. The rest were destroyed.
So why were the B-52s cut up and dumped in the Arizona desert?
The removal of the B-52Gs was part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the former Soviet Union and the US.
Under START, Russia and the US had to reduce their total warheads to 6,000 and Strategic Nuclear Delivery Vehicles (SNDVs) such as long range bombers, nuclear submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to 1,600.
START, which was due for renewal on December 5 last year, has seen the US remove over 1,000 strategic ballistic missiles, 350 heavy bombers and 28 ballistic missile submarines. It is currently being considered for renewal by both the US Senate and the Russian Duma.
Over a quarter of the bombers destroyed were B-52Gs.
Most have ended up in what is known as the boneyard, a vast airforce graveyard in Tuscan, Arizona. Over 4,400 aircraft sit at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Not all are destined for destruction.
It is a perfect resting place for unused or soon to be destroyed aircarft. Tuscan is very hot and dry. The average temperature is 28 degrees celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and the average annual rainfall is just 300 millimetres (or 12 inches). The heat and low humidity prevents aircraft rust, while the area's flat, hard, dry clay soils provide a cheap parking surface for aircraft.
The boneyard is also very visible from space. This means Russian satellites can count every plane to see if the US is meeting START.
Russia in turn has had to advise the US of the location of its bases. And so it is that both sides have parked thousands of weapons; bombers, submarines, missiles and other weapons so each country's satellites can carry out stock-takes. (The treaty also allowed both countries to visit bases to confirm the destruction process.)
Under START, the B-52G destruction was absolute.
The treaty required that the USD30 million B-52G would never fly again. Giant guillotines were hoisted above the bombers and cut off the planes' tails. This separated the tails from the main bodies ( fuselages) of the bombers. The wings were then cut off. Then finally the bodies were cut in half again. All of this was filmed by satellites. Finally the bombers' remains were left to stand in the Arizona boneyard, in view of the Russian satellites, for 3 months.
After that the bomber's metals were sold as scrap. According to a 1995 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists report the average scrap metal price of a START destroyed B-52 bomber was USD20,000 (about USD28,000 in 2009).
Before the bombers were guillotined they were stripped and gutted. If defense security allowed it, re-useable parts were sold. This included wheels, landing equipment, dials and a host of non-classified parts and furniture such as ejection seats.
Each B-52G had six crew and therefore six ejection seats.
Californian based company MotoArt has converted B52-G ejection seats into office chairs for high flying executives. (The company's website does not provide prices for this chair...)
Information on how to buy scrap metal and parts from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base can be found on the Base's website ( http://www.dm.af.mil/index.asp )
Davis-Monthan continues to decommission other US Airforce planes.
http://www.dm.af.mil/index.asp
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/123551.htm
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/126119.htm
http://www.state.gov/t/vci/trty/104150.htm
Defense Treaty Inspection Readiness Program (co-ordinated by US Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, NASA, US Joints Chief of Staff and other agencies)
http://dtirp.dtra.mil/About/origin.cfm
http://dtirp.dtra.mil/TIC/synopses/start.cfm
http://www.stratofortress.org/index.htm
http://www.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/index.asp