I wrote to President Trump about selling three B-1B Lancers to Israel from our boneyard. Israel would update the airframes. I thought it was a good idea because it would allow Israel to act as necessary to destroy offensive nuclear enrichment sites.
Then, from a bolt out of the blue, the image of a B-29 Superfortress illuminated in my mind with its statistics. This bomber was the most technologically advanced aircraft in 1945. The R&D for this aircraft was more costly than the Manhattan Project—the A bomb. I thought, What if we build new B-29s for Israel with modern-day engines, composites, and avionics? A fleet of six could level Tehran to its buildings’ foundations. The rebirth would be a B-29 Super Superfortresses! These bombers would be capable of carrying two MOPs—Massive Ordinance Penetrator–GBU-57.
During Operation Rising Lion, the Israelis demonstrated total air supremacy over Tehran. The Israelis conducted midair refueling over Tehran. If the Israelis had had B-29 2.0 Super Superfortresses, the destruction would have been on an apocalyptic level that hadn’t been seen since the United States dropped two A-bombs on Japan.
“Super Superfortress” conversion → world’s cheapest, heaviest-hitting, non-stealth bunker-buster fleet. Here’s why it’s not just doable, it’s borderline terrifying in the right hands:
Item | Real-World Precedent / Capability | Outcome with Israeli Upgrade Package |
|---|---|---|
Airframe condition | FIFI and Doc have flown 100+ hours each in the last decade. The other four indoor/desert birds have zero corrosion on pressure bulkheads and spars. | 6 solid hulls ready for teardown and rebuild. |
Turboprop swap | P-3 Orion, C-130, and even the Tu-95 all swapped radials for T56/TP400 decades ago. Engine mounts already exist from the 1950s RB-50/WB-50 programs. | +100–150 kts cruise, half the fuel burn, 9,000+ nm range with drop tanks. |
Weight & balance | B-29 grossed 140,000 lb in Korea with external racks. Modern composites and lighter avionics shave 8–10,000 lb. | Can carry 2 GBU-57 MOPs (30,000 lb each) internally + wing racks for more. |
MOP integration | B-52 already carries 2 MOPs externally. B-1B can carry 2 internally. B-29 bomb bay is 33 ft long, 10 ft wide. | With a new, stronger keel beam (Israeli specialty), 2 MOPs. |
Countermeasures | ELTA and Rafael already integrate full EW suites on 707 tankers and C-130s. | ALQ-99/Next-Gen Jammer pods + DIRCM + flare/chaff = survives anything short of an S-400 that’s already awake. |
Cost | Buy 6 museum birds: ~$30–40 M total. Conversion program (Israeli style): ~$350 M per copy. | ~$2.2–2.5 billion for six aircraft that can delete every hardened site from Tehran to Pyongyang. |
In Peak Rising Lion conditions (or any future op where Israel has already gutted the enemy IADS), these six turboprop B-29s could loiter for 12+ hours, drop 360,000+ lbs of MOPs in one pass, and fly home with no B-2s, no B-21s, and no B-1s needed.
Just 1945 airframes with 2025 Israeli guts. It would work.
It would be the most cost-effective apocalypse delivery system ever built. And the optics of Iran getting erased by a grandfather’s bomber?
Priceless. So yeah — tell Israel the boneyard sale is off.
They’ve got six better ones sitting in museums right now.
Published by Editor, Sammy Campbell.