The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1954, replacing the Convair B-36 and the Boeing B-47. Although built for the role of Cold War-era nuclear deterrent, its conventional capabilities are these days the more important role in USAF operations, where its long range, heavy weapons load and comparatively economical operation are highly valued.

Air Combat Command's B-52 is a long-range heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15 km). It can carry a variety of weapons, including nuclear or conventional precision-guided munition and has the capability to navigate the world precisely. It was originally designed to carry just two enormous thermonuclear weapons to any point in the USSR.

For more than 50 years, the B-52 Stratofortress has been the backbone of the manned strategic bomber force for the United States. The B-52 is capable of dropping or launching a wide array of weapons in the U.S. inventory, including free-fall (gravity bombs), cluster bombs, and precision guided ordnance such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions. When updated with the latest technology, the B-52 will be capable of delivering the full complement of joint developed weapons; allowing it to continue well into the 21st century as an important element of U.S. military capabilities. Current engineering analyses show the B-52's life span to extend beyond the year 2045.

Two B-52 prototypes were built, and were designated XB-52 and YB-52. In actuality, both aircraft were almost identical, but the YB-52 incorporated enough changes to warrant a different designation. The most notable difference between the prototypes and the B-52A was that the X and Y aircraft used a tandem cockpit for the pilot and co-pilot, very similar to that on the B-47. The cockpit for the B-52A was completely redesigned due to the insistence of General Curtis LeMay, Commander of the Strategic Air Command, who was opposed to the tandem seating arrangement. Although the XB-52 was the first prototype to be completed and rolled out, the YB-52 was the first to fly - on April 15, 1952 - due to damage on the XB-52's wing trailing edges caused by a hydraulic system failure. The XB-52 eventually flew for the first time on October 2, 1952. Unfortunately, both aircraft were scrapped in the mid-1960s, though the YB-52 was available for viewing in the USAF Museum from the late '50s until the time when it was decided to scrap it.

The B-52A first flew in August 1954 and the B model entered service in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built with the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962. Only the H model is still in the Air Force inventory and is assigned to Air Combat Command and the Air Force Reserves. The oldest B-52 still flying was a B-52B that was built in 1955, though it also has the fewest flight hours of any surviving B-52. It was operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and was used for drop tests of various research aircraft until its retirement on December 17, 2004. On July 30, 2001, Dryden received a B-52H that is expected to fully replace the older B-model aircraft by the end of 2004.

The first of 102 B-52H's was delivered to Strategic Air Command in May 1961. The H model can carry up to 20 air launched cruise missiles. In addition, it can carry the conventional cruise missile that was launched in several contingencies during the 1990s, starting with Operation Desert Storm and culminating with Operation Allied Force in the spring of 1999.

The threat of B-52 attacks motivated the Soviet Union back down from its threat to deploy nuclear-armed missiles to Cuba in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

For duty in Vietnam, the B-52D/E/F received the "Big Belly" modification which enabled the aircraft to squeeze 108 500-pound conventional bombs into the bomb bay, as well as 28 750-pound bombs on underwing pylons.

A proportion of the B-52 force was kept fuelled, crewed and loaded with nuclear weapons so that it could take off on a few minutes' notice. The plan was to get the aircraft away from their bases, which would have been destroyed by incoming enemy missile warheads. The B-52s would have escaped and headed toward their targets. Along the way, each B-52 would have met at least one KC-135 Stratotanker. KC-135 tanker aircraft would have refueled the bombers, even at the cost of their own fuel supplies. Every drop of fuel would have been given to the bombers, thus sacrificing the tankers to ensure the mission would succeed.

Early on, high-altitude bombing attacks over the Soviet Union were considered possible. B-52s carried ADM-20 Quail decoys, which emulated the B-52s flight characteristics, flying through enemy territory emitting B-52-like electronic signals. However, in the late 1950s and 1960s, Soviet high-altitude air defenses improved. To counter this, B-52 crews were trained to launch their unmanned missiles such as the hypersonic AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile and then fly "below the radar" attacks at nearly tree top level.

B-52s also performed airborne alert duty under the code-name "Chrome Dome" where bombers would loiter near points outside of the Soviet Union. During this program a deadly collision between a B-52 and a KC-135 over Spain in 1966 occurred. Four megaton-range nuclear bombs were lost (all four later recovered). After this crash, thousands of tons of contaminated radioactive soil had to be brought back to the US. The USAF decided this was too expensive to risk again, and it ended the airborne alert program.

The 1973 Arab attack on Israel, and the subsequent threat of a Soviet invasion of Israel, brought the B-52s to their highest state of ground alert (see below).

In the late 1960's and 1970s, the B-52s' mission profile changed. As Soviet air defenses improved, high-altitude free-fall bomb penetration missions would have proved nearly suicidal. The bombers were modified to launch "defense suppression" missiles designed to create safe corridors in which the bombers could pass to attack their targets with free-fall bombs. AGM-28 Hound Dog supersonic cruise missiles were originally designed for this purpose until effectively replaced by the hypersonic Short-Range Attack Missile. Both missiles carried nuclear warheads.

With the advent of the AGM-86 cruise missile, B-52s could perform a "stand-off" role of launching cruise missiles at their targets while the bombers could safely avoid Soviet defenses. These pilotless AGM-86s would have flown to their own targets at treetop level, reaching near-Mach speed. The Soviet Union's attempt to defend against cruise missiles was extremely expensive and helped bring about that government's demise.

In 1991 President George H.W. Bush ended an era when he took the B-52s off of "alert" duty.

Source: Michel L. Marshall III, "The Eleven Days of Christmas: America's Last Vietnam Battle", Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2002.]

B-52s were used extensively in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was terrified of B-52 attacks. Survivors described the experience as akin to an earthquake. The B-52s' devastating firepower made it the most feared weapon used against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. B-52s dropped bombs on suspected enemy arms caches and hideouts on the Trail, often inflicting huge losses on the Communist forces.

The zenith of B-52 attacks in Vietnam was Operation Linebacker II, which consisted of waves of B-52s (mostly D models, but some G's with less jamming equipment and a smaller bomb load) bombing Hanoi. This was called "The Eleven-Day War." The objective was to force North Vietnam back to the Paris Peace Talks, which up to that point they had refused to do. In Linebacker II, seventeen B-52s were shot down.

Many fewer would have been shot down if not for poor planning and inflexibility by the mission planners of the USAF's Strategic Air Command (SAC). Specifically, SAC ordered B-52s to attack from highly predictable, precisely-timed, repetitive positions and altitudes. This eliminated the element of surprise. The NVA were able to aim their Soviet-built SA-2 Guideline Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) by simple timing and azimuth prediction. Further complicating the situation for the B-52s was the fact that SAC had used the same jamming (electronic countermeasures) techniques for years, thus enabling the NVA to develop counter-countermeasures.

SAC ordered the B-52s to make a steep turn after dropping the bombs. This resulted in an interruption in the electronic jamming of NVA radars because the B-52s' jamming antennas, which were located on the bottom of the aircraft, were then pointed away from the radars. To make matters worse, the turn made the B-52s face into a 100-mph headwind, which slowed their escape.

The NVA were surprised at first, but after a few nights of these repetitive tactics, they figured it out. The NVA blasted several B-52s with direct hits. Two were damaged severely and crashed near U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base. The situation would have been even worse for the B-52s if not for the inaccuracy of the SA-2 system and the inexperience and errors of its NVA operators.

SAC refused to change its tactics even when shown that the existing tactics were ineffective and highly dangerous to the aircraft and crews. In part, this was due to indecision on the part of SAC's commander. Also, because of a "top-down" culture which had been originally established for nuclear war by General Curtis LeMay, SAC refused to listen to the suggestions of its aircrews. The LeMay culture had discouraged open and frank discussion to the point that only "yes men" made it to the top of the SAC organization where, potentially, they might have been able to prod the SAC commander into a change of tactics.

(Surprisingly, NVA records and interviews with former SAM operators show exactly the opposite culture. Realistic discussion and innovation were encouraged among the batteries' commanders.)

Ironically, although the NVA had run out of missiles by Day Four of the campaign, and the B-52s could have bombed an undefended Hanoi, SAC was so rattled by its losses that it directed the B-52s to targets outside Hanoi, thus giving the NVA time to reload. After that, B-52 losses mounted again.

SAC commanders did their best to suppress revelations about their incompetence, even going so far as to suggest that their one of their critics was mentally unstable. SAC has rewritten history in its official account of Linebacker II. This semi-fiction is still taught at the USAF's Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

In October 1973, the Arabs, using Soviet equipment, attacked Israel, but Israel gained the upper hand. As a result, the Soviet Union threatened to invade Israel. To stop the Soviets, President Richard M. Nixon threatened nuclear war. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird ordered the B-52s to an immediate war footing. Fully armed and fueled B-52s waited for the "Go" signal, sitting at the hold lines of their runways. Humiliated, the Soviet Union once again (see Cuban Missile Crisis above) backed down.

In the late 1970s, the B-52D's were retired. The remaining G and H models were used for nuclear standby ("alert") duty (see above) as part of the United States' nuclear deterrence "triad." This triad was the combination of nuclear-armed land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles, and manned bombers.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the B-52Gs were destroyed as per the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Today, only the H models remain in service.

The B-52 contributed to the U.S. success in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, providing the ability to loiter high over the battlefield and provide Close Air Support (CAS) through the use of precision guided munitions. The long range and endurance of the B-52 provided a U.S. presence unmatched by any other combat aircraft. B-52's also played a key role in the second Gulf War in 2002-2003 (Operation Iraqi Freedom), where they provided close air support and bombing.

The Air Force intends to keep the B-52 in service until around 2050, an unprecedented length of service for a combat aircraft model (the venerable DC-3, now 70 years old, is still in regular revenue service in civilian hands). This is especially amazing considering that the last plane was built in 1962; the Air Force fully expects to be flying 90-year-old airframes. Periodically, B-52s are rebuilt at the USAF's maintenance depots such as Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Therefore, despite their chronological age, their actual service age is quite young.

Boeing has suggested re-engining of the B-52H fleet with the Rolls-Royce RB211 534E-4. This would involve replacing the eight Pratt & Whitney TF33s (total thrust 17,000 lb or 605 kN) with four RB211s (total thrust 37,400 lb.). The RR engines will increase the range/payload of the fleet and reduce fuel consumption. However the cost of the project would be significant. Procurement would cost approximately $2.56 billion ($36 million × 71 aircraft). A General Accounting Office study of the proposal concluded that Boeing's estimated savings of $4.7 billion would not be realized. They found that it would cost the Air Force $1.3 billion over keeping the existing engines. [1]

Another recently approved upgrade for the B-52 is the B-52 SOJ (Stand Off Jammer) program which will allow it to assume an airborne communications/jamming role. Approximately a quarter of the fleet will be converted to take on this mission, with the Air Force seeking funding to convert the entire fleet. The B-52 SOJ will retain all of its bomber functions and capabilities, however now after having expended its weapons load it will continue to loiter over the combat area providing electronic warfare cover for follow on strikes. The additional equipment will be carried in 30 ft external pods under the wings. [2]

The USAF continues to employ the B-52 because it remains an effective and and the most economical heavy bomber in US service, particularly for the type of conflicts conducted since the end of the Cold War against nations with limited anti-air capabilities. The stealth and speed of the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit have only been useful until enemy air defences were destroyed, a task that has been swiftly achieved in recent conflicts. The B-52 boasts the highest mission capable rate of the three types of heavy bombers operated by the USAF. Whereas the B-1 averages a 57% ready rate [3] and the B-2 achievs 26% [4], the B-52 averages an 80% combat ready rate.

In a conventional conflict, the B-52 can perform strategic attack, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations. During Operation Desert Storm, B-52s delivered 40 percent of all the weapons dropped by coalition forces.

All B-52s are equipped with an electro-optical viewing system that uses platinum silicide forward-looking infrared and high resolution low-light-level television sensors to augment targeting, battle assessment, and flight safety, thus further improving its combat ability and low-level flight capability.

Pilots wear night vision goggles (NVGs) to enhance their vision during night operations. Night vision goggles provide greater safety during night operations by increasing the pilot's ability to visually clear terrain, avoid enemy radar and see other aircraft in a covert/lights-out environment.

Starting in 1989, on-going modifications incorporates the Global Positioning System, heavy stores adapter beams for carrying 2,000 pound (900 kg) munitions, and a full array of advanced weapons currently under development.

The use of aerial refueling gives the B-52 a range limited only by crew endurance, or in the extreme, required maintenance. It has an unrefueled combat range in excess of 8,800 statute miles (14,000 km). 555 KC-135 and 59 KC-10 air-refueling tankers currently exist. The B-52 is refueled by means of a small fuel tank cover above the cockpit.

It is highly effective when used for ocean surveillance, and can assist the U.S. Navy in anti-ship and mine-laying operations. Two B-52s, in two hours, can monitor 140,000 square miles (364,000 km²) of ocean surface. If on land, this area is about as large as a circle centered at New York City and covered as far as Washington, DC, Syracuse and Boston (radius = 212 statute miles or 340 km). However, the actual shape of coverage would vary.

The aircraft's flexibility was evident in Operation Desert Storm and again during Operation Allied Force. B-52s struck wide-area troop concentrations, fixed installations and bunkers, and ruined the morale of Iraq's Republican Guard. The Persian Gulf War involved the longest strike mission in the history of aerial warfare when B-52s took off from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, launched conventional air launched cruise missiles and returned to Barksdale—a 35 hour, non-stop combat mission. During Operation Allied Force, B-52s opened the conflict with conventional cruise missile attacks and then transitioned to delivering general purpose bombs and cluster bomb units on Serbian army positions and staging areas.

• Contractor: Boeing Military Airplane Co.
• Speed: 650 mph, 1000 km/h (Mach 0.86)
• Range: Unrefueled 8,800 statute miles (14,200 km), Refueled unlimited (subject to crew limitations)
• Armament: Approximately 70,000 lb (31,500 kg) mixed ordnance—bombs, land mines and missiles. (Modified to carry air-launched cruise missiles, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship and AGM-142 Have Nap missiles.)
  • The nuclear weapons capacity has previously included B28, B43, B53, B61, and B83 free-fall nuclear bombs, or various combinations of twelve AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMS), 20 AGM-86A Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM) and eight bombs.
  • The B-52A through F carried a tail-mounted armament of four .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns with the gunner sitting in the tail, The B-52G retained the quad .50 cals but the gunner moved up front with the rest of the crew and controlled the guns via remote. The B-52H replaced the quad .50's with a single 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan which offered much greater defensive fire power. In the mid-1990s, the tail gun was removed from all of the B-52H aircraft to reduce weight and because a gun is ineffective against guided-missile firing fighter aircaft.
  • The G and H models are distinguishable from previous models due to their shorter (by 8 feet) vertical tailplane. This configuration had previously been tested on a B-52A.
  • The H model is distinguishable from all previous variants by having visually different engine pods. The B-52H uses TF33-3 turbofan engines, which provided 20% greater range, 70% more thrust and are considerably quieter than the J57 engine which had been used on all previous variants
  • The B-52 is the only known bomber to have shot down jet-powered fighter aircraft; one unit of the type shot down two MiG-17 fighter planes during the Vietnam War.
• Accommodations: Five (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator, Radar Navigator (AKA Bombardier) & Electronic Warfare Officer) with all sitting in ejection seats
• Unit Cost: $74 million
• Date Deployed: February 1955

· Inventory: Active force, 85; ANG, 0; Reserve, 9

• XB-52 - The first B-52 prototype. 1 built
• YB-52 - The second protoype. 1 built
• B-52A - The first production model. 3 built
• B-52B - 50
• RB-52B - 27 B-52Bs converted into reconnaissance aircraft. 2X 20mm Cannon Replaced 4X .50 cal in tail
• B-52C - 35
• B-52D - 170
• B-52E - 100
• B-52F - 89
• B-52G - 193
• B-52H - 102

• • Total produced - 744

General characteristics

• Crew: 5 (Pilot, Copilot, Radar Navigator (Bombardier), Navigator and Electronic Warfare Officer). Originally the B-52 had a crew of 6, with a Gunner sitting in the tail in all models up to the G. In the B-52 G/H, the Gunner position was moved to the front cockpit, with the gun remotely controlled.

Performance

• Thrust/weight: 0.51

Armament

• Guns: All models up to the H had a pod of four .50-caliber guns which could be loaded with armor-piercing/indendiary ammunition. The H model had one 6-barrel 20-mm Vulcan gatling cannon. Now, the tail guns have been removed on all operating B-52s.
• Bombs: 70,000 lb (32,000 kg)

The B-52 is stationed at two USAF bases

• Barksdale AFB in Louisiana
• Minot AFB in North Dakota

• Among its crew, the B-52 is affectionately known as the "BUFF", an acronym for "Big Ugly Fat Fucker" (or "Big Ugly Fat Fellow" in more polite company).

• The BUFF carries a total fuel load of about 300,000 pounds (roughly 50,000 US gallons).

• BUFF flies unlike other aircraft. It takes off nose-low or level. This looks strange to most pilots, who are used to seeing aircraft take off nose-high. BUFF handles unlike other aircraft because it turns by means of spoliers instead of ailerons. Despite the fact that an aircraft of this massive size, power and weight necessitates hydraulically-boosted control surfaces, it requires a surprisingly high level of physical force on the part of the pilots.

• Each B-52 has a name. Usually the maintenance crew chief has the privilege of naming her (aircraft and ships are regarded as female). Some of the more interesting names are "The Need for Speed", "Heavy Metal II", "Conceived for Liberty", "Death from Above", and "Night Stalker". One is even named "Memphis Belle IV," in honor of the original Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

• BUFF has small wingtip landing gear which do not touch the ground except when the aircraft is fully loaded with fuel and weapons.

• The B-52's skin looks wrinkled when the aircraft is on the ground. However, in flight, the wrinkles disappear and she becomes smooth.

• BUFF's means of de-icing its wings in flight is simple and effective. The wings are built to flex, thereby breaking off ice. Without a full fuel and weapons load, the wings can flex up to 15 feet. This is normal.

• The B-52 was built for war, not for comfort. The crew compartment (cockpit) is quite cramped, especially when Instructors (in addition to the primary crew) are flying. There is a bunk on H models, but not on previous ones. B-52 crews joke that Boeing put the cockpit in as an afterthought.

• The aircraft has so much longitudinal stability that it has demonstrated controlled flight while missing much of its vertical stabilizer.

• The B-52 was built for men (not women) to fly; therefore, the only toilet facilities on board are a urinal on the lower deck (just ahead of the bomb bay) and a potty (lined with a plastic garbage bag) on the upper deck. There is no curtain or door on these.

• BUFF has a very small oven which can warm food for the crew. The only drinking water is carried in coolers. There is no sink or shower.

• The B-52's landing gear has to be turned at an angle ("crabbed" in aeronautical terms) when landing in a crosswind. The gear is made to point down the runway while the nose of the plane points into the wind. Pilots call this "crosswind crab." This is made possible by a complex, but highly reliable, hydraulic system. The ability to crab enables the BUFF to land in conditions which would force other aircraft to go somewhere else.

• A hairstyle known as the "B-52", because of its resemblance to the nose cone of this aircraft, was popular in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The musical band The B-52's were named after the B-52 hairstyle members of the band wear.

• BUFF's radar is so powerful that it can kill small animals when the aircraft is on the ground. (It is hazardous to human beings, too.)

• There is a cocktail named for the B-52, the B-52 shooter.

• The B-52 bomber gained notoriety after Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Cold War black comedy movie. The cockpit of the plane is one of only four movie settings. The Air Force refused to allow Stanley Kubrick permission to photograph the cockpit interior; he developed his B-52 cockpit by extrapolating from photos of a B-52 interior published in a British flying magazine. His guess was so accurate that his production company was later investigated by the Department of Defense.

• At the time of Dr. Strangelove and for some time in the 1960s the Strategic Air Command (SAC) did fly airborne alert (Chrome Dome) with weapons on board awaiting the "Go Code". B-52s were positioned in the air 24/7 to immediately respond to the National Command Authority. For example, missions from Homestead AFB, Miami, FL flew to orbit-on-station over the Adriatic Sea, refueled over Spain both going and coming (there was one notorious collision/crash on this route in 1967), and landed in Miami 26 hours later. During 22 hours of this time the B-52H could turn and immediately strike all six targets in southern Russia (without additional air refueling).

• The NASA B-52B Mothership, NASA tail number 008, was retired from active service with NASA on 17 December, 2004, after almost 50 years flying service. This was the B-52 famous for dropping such aerospace research vehicles as the X-15, X-24, HiMAT, Lifting Body vehicles, X-43, and others. It was the oldest active B-52 at the time, having first flown on June 11, 1955, and entering service with NASA in 1959. It was the last B-52B in service (for that matter, the last B-52 in service of any type other than the H model).

• The B-52's longevity is marked by the fact that in at least one family of airmen, the grandfather, father, and son have all served as B-52 crew.

• The ejection seats for the lower-deck crewmembers, the Navigator and Radar Navigator (more commonly called Bombardier), eject downwards from the bottom of the plane. Because of this, these crewmembers cannot eject below 900 feet above the ground. The upper-deck crewmembers (Pilot, Copilot, and Electronic Warfare Officer) have seats which can eject them upwards. Therefore, their seats work at any any altitude, as long as the airspeed is at least 90 knots, which is necessary to jettison the hatches above the ejection seats.

• In the early 1980s Boeing submitted an unsolicited proposal for a "Super B-52". It would have offered upgraded engines, improved electronics and avionics and vastly improved ergonomics for the crew. The plan was considered but dropped in favor of the B-1B that was then being considered to replace the then-20+ year old B-52G/H fleet.

• On the night of December 27, 1972, North Vietnamese pilot and future cosmonaut Pham Tuan became the first person ever to shoot down a US B-52 bomber, during the Vietnam War. The bomber had been circling the Hanoi sky during the US campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder.

• As part of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia, 365 B-52Gs were flown to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. The bombers were stripped of all usable parts, then unceremoniously chopped into five pieces by a 13,000-pound steel blade dropped from a crane. The modern-day guillotine crashed down four times on each plane, severing the mammoth wings and leaving the fuselage in three pieces. The ruined B-52s remained in place for three months in order for orbiting Russian satellites to confirm the bombers had been destroyed, after which they were sold for scrap at 12 cents a pound.

• Michel L. Marshall III, "The Eleven Days of Christmas: America's Last Vietnam Battle", Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2002.

• http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/b-52_hist.htm -- detailed historical overview
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-52.htm Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) B-52 Stratofortress
• http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=83 -- B-52 Stratofortress Fact Sheet
• USAF B-52 mission flights from Fairford to Iraq (2003) monitored by the Frequency Monitor Centre
• NASA Dryden B-52 fact sheet

• Convair YB-60

Related development

• B-47 Stratojet

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Tupolev Tu-95

Related lists

• List of bomber aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States

pg 552-553