B-1 Bomber
The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a four-engine, variable-sweep-wing Air Force bomber. Its four-member crews call it the "Bone," for "B-one." Originally designed to replace the B-52, the Cold War's end has turned it into a supersonic, long-range bomber capable of delivering lots of precision-guided munitions. It first saw action, not as a nuclear bomber against the Soviet Union, but in a four-day bombing campaign against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1998. It is the last plane in the U.S. military that can stretch out its wings for takeoffs and landings, and then sweep them backward for high-speed flight. (Rockwell has since been swallowed by Boeing.)
For the inside story on America's military operations around the world, check out Mark Thompson's blog, Battleland: Where military intelligence is not a contradiction in terms.