Awesome video shows B-52 bombers during a MITO (Minimum Interval Take Off)

Published on: May 23, 2013 at 9:44 PM

Last updated: May 23, 2013 9:44 PM

It must have been a smokey morning at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, when the following video was filmed.

Ten B-52H bombers take off during a Minimum Intervall Take Off (MITO) exercise, conducted to test the Stratofortresses’ ability to respond to threats at a moment’s notice.

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During this training events, aircraft are launched by a method known “cart-starts” from cartridge starts: a small-controlled explosive is inserted into two of the eight engines of the heavy bomber. The charges jumpstart the engines (the remaining engines are started while the aircraft taxies to the runway) removing the need to use ground equipment normally used for aircraft’s startup.

Using cart-starts, startup time is cut from more than an hour to less than 10 minutes.