The Pentagon has dispatched four B-52 heavy bombers to the Middle East, in response to an alleged Iranian threat against U.S. forces in the region. The purpose of the deployment, whether to deter an attack or pre-empt one, is unknown. Although six decades old, the B-52’s heavy weapons load and long legs ensure that when a crisis erupts it is Air Force’s go-to heavy bomber.

According to CBS News, four B-52H Stratofortress bombers took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and are expected to land at Al Udeid air base in Qatar later today. Also being sent to the Middle East is a carrier strike group centered around the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, plus a guided missile cruiser and four guided missile destroyers.

The buildup of forces in the area, according to U.S. Central Command, reported by Military Times , is in response to “recent and clear” indications that Iranian or proxy forces were making preparations to “possibly attack American troops in the region.” CENTCOM reported that indications pointed to “threats on land and in the maritime” against U.S. forces.

B-52 Stratofortress aircraft flying over Shreveport, Louisiana, July 4, 2018 Smith Collection/Gado Getty Images

The B-52s sent to the Middle East are the last of a force of over 700 Stratofortresses built during the Cold War. The Air Force ordered 104 -H model bombers during the early 1960s, and according to the USAF 76 were still service as of 2015.

More than any other airplane, the B-52 combines the ability to carry a wide variety of munitions with an intercontinental range. Coupled with midair refueling, there are few targets—if any—targets on the planet that are outside the bomber’s reach. Although the slab-sided B-52 is far from stealthy, against opponents without sophisticated air defenses the lack of stealth is not really a problem.

The B-52h can carry up to 70,000 pounds in ordnance, though the number depends on what kind of weapons are carried. It can carry up to thirty 1,000 pound bombs, fifty-one 500 pound bombs, and eighteen 2,000 pound bombs. Alternately, it can carry up to 12 satellite guided Joint Directed Attack Munitions (JDAMs) in the 500 to 2,000 pound range. The B-52 can also carry Paveway laser-guided “smart” bombs. Fitted with the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, the aging bomber can do its own precision targeting.

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Alternately, the B-52H can act as a cruise missile carrier. A B-52 equipped with the new Conventional Rotary Launcher can carry up to twenty JASSM cruise missiles at a time, with twelve mounted on the bomber’s wings and another eight stored internally on the CRL. The AGM-158 JASSM, or Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, has a range of 250 miles and a 1,000 pound high explosive warhead designed to attack hardened and underground facilities. JASSM first saw combat in 2018 during a strike on Syria’s chemical weapon facilities.

Despite being well past middle age, the B-52H is one of the most versatile combat aircraft around.

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