this is a sixty-three year old boeing v52 the strata fortress is a decade older than its crew, but remains the usaf's primary bomber in every us war since vietnam. thanks to planned upgrades to outdated systems , it will last for almost another century. this year , the united states began production of the next generation, the b-21 bomber. china is not far behind, promising to soon introduce its stealth strategic bomber. 20 seconds before turning around. ready? aboard mylar 11, we fly past the eastern coast of russia toward u.s. and allied fighters. our the plane is not armed. the mission is not to attack, it is to prevent attack, to deter, but it is, of course, a bomber. if we had nuclear weapons, the air force would monitor the flight from the joint nuclear operations center in louisiana. we are showing it on the news for the first time. this is a 24/7 operation to track all launchers, ballistic missiles and airborne nuclear weapons. but the us itself is closely watching china. in october, a chinese fighter jet intercepted a b-52 aircraft flew over the south china sea at night and came w