On one hand this implies that the B-52 has been useful all this time-- and to some extent it has in different roles. But on the other hand, when the U-2 was sh

On one hand this implies that the B-52 has been useful all this time-- and to some extent it has in different roles. But on the other hand, when the U-2 was shot down in 1960 it could never perform the role it was designed for. Since then the Air Force has sought different planes to fill that role and different roles for the B-52. In that sense B-52 is like the battleship designs of WW1 that fought in WW2 and onward. Not sticking around because they are so effective but instead sticking around because they are dead ends.