“There is nothing like seeing a BUFF raining 500 pounders.”
The B-1 is capable of carrying a heavier ordinance load than the B-52, is much stealthier, and can arrive where needed almost twice as fast. Further, bombs are far less expensive than cruise missiles. We must be cost conscious these days. ;-)
In many situations a X-47B type autonomous bomber would work fine as well. It’s essentially a reusable stealthy cruise missile that can hit multiple targets per mission.
I don't trust those unmanned thingies. I guess I'm old fashioned. Nothing can replace the five pound shoulder mounted computer.
What happens when you lose that X47 data link? I know you can go autonomous but can it differentiate between a school bus full of kids or one filled with Jihadists?