As the Soviet air defense perimeter expands, stand-off platforms such as the ALCM-carrying B-52H and, in due course, the B-1 will be ever less able to reach their launch points without coming into contact with the enemy.
In the emerging START Treaty, for example, the Soviets have accepted a U.S. proposal that would do this by permitting each non-ALCM-equipped bomber to count as a single weapon irrespective of the number of gravity bombs or short-range attack missiles it actually carries.