Intercontinental?

This is coolbert:

The long-range, heavy bomber aircraft on a strategic mission. Said to have "intercontinental" range.

Various current "up-and-flying" bomber aircraft able to accomplish such missions might well include:

* American B-52.
* Soviet/Russian Tu-95.
* Soviet/Russian Tu-160.

That specific term "intercontinental" must be carefully defined? 

From an authority that I respect we have this definition:

"A bomber capable of traveling from one major land mass to another to deliver a load of bombs on target."

The strategic long-range bomber warplane on a mission  traveling from a North American base to a target in Europe - -  dropping atomic ordnance on an enemy target for instance.

Merely according to this definition "traveling from one major land mass to another" - - NO MENTION made of returning to the point of departure without having to refuel.

My preference for a more accurate definition is more commonly known as combat radius [?]:

"Combat radius refers to the distance from an airbase that a warplane can reach, patrol there for a set amount of time and return to base with minimal fuel left" [not necessarily patrol but deliver ordnance on the target]

Preferably taking off from an airbase in the contiguous forty-eight states, flying to an "overseas" target, bombing the adversary, returning to a location [not necessarily the point of departure] also in the contiguous forty-eight states, all without refueling, mid-air or otherwise! I am being too strict and demanding here?

It can easily be suggested that my definition does not and HAS NEVER CONFORMED TO REALITY IN THE WORLD OF THE INTERCONTINENTAL HEAVY STRATEGIC BOMBER AIRCRAFT!!

Prior to the B-52, the Tu-95 and the Tu-160, the ONE and ONLY combat warplane to have what is called intercontinental "reach" was the American B-36. The original concept of which called for bombing runs between North America and Germany, there and back in a single flight unrefueled!

"The first really capable one was the B-36, which was designed during WWII to hit Germany from the US in case we needed that option.  The Germans looked at several designs of their own as well--most of them were one-way bombers, which still fit the category of intercontinental bomber."

"the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range."

"a new class of bomber that could reach Europe from bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least 5,700 miles (9,200 km), the length of a Gander, Newfoundland–Berlin round trip."

[note however the point of departure NOT from any point in the contiguous forty-eight states!]

Even post-war [WW2], the B-36 retained for an atomic mission, NOT able to fly from the contiguous forty-eight states, bomb a Soviet target, and return to a state-side base unrefueled!!

"War missions would have been essentially one-way, taking off from forward bases in Alaska or Greenland, overflying the USSR, and landing in Europe, North Africa (Morocco), or the Middle East."

WRONG-WAY CORRIGAN BECAME ONE-WAY CORRIGAN!

Even today, according again to that respected authority, most strategic missions even to include an American B-52 are NOT intercontinental by my definition:

"A B-52 could hit some near portions of the USSR using a Minot AFB to Murmansk route over the pole, and possibly return without refueling."

And from the wiki we have this interesting image showing the "mission profile" for the strategic and supersonic long-range American bomber B-70 [only two prototypes ever built and flown!]

"Mission profiles for the B-70 bomber. The dashed profile at the top shows a maximum range mission using in-flight refueling, overflying the USSR at high-altitude, and then landing at Diego Garcia in the India Ocean. The solid line beside it is a maximum-range"

"Reconnaissance/Strike to search and knock out rail-based ICBMs used refueling from tankers (at left) for two profiles."

•  "7,748 nmi: high altitude USSR overflight descends for Diego Garcia landing (spirals depicted at right)"
•  "6,447 nmi: lands in Turkey after 1,200 nmi flight from target (mushroom clouds)"
•  "5,312 nmi: 856 nmi (1½ hr) Mach 0.95 "on-the-deck"approach to target"

Again, NOT intercontinental range as I prefer to define that term. Indeed, a mid-air refueling required en route to the target, a landing at a friendly airbase in Europe or the Indian Ocean, NOT RETURNING TO AMERICAN AIRSPACE WITHOUT REFUELING!!

Merely the threat of intercontinental range, delivering an atomic payload on target, even if the flight is known to be one-way, was and remains an effective deterrent? Return to home base of similar such airfield in the contiguous forty-eight states was not an absolute MUST during the Cold War or even now.

It is reputed that the American strategic stealth bomber B-2 can circumnavigate the globe with ONLY ONE mid-air refueling! Remarkable. But again, intercontinental as normally defined means more or less REACH and not necessarily RETURN!

coolbert.