PPRuNe Forums - Still In Service

Article and photos in The Times today.
High flyer: why the B-52 bomber will last a hundred years

Quote:

hrough the Cold War, Vietnam, the War on Terror and into the present day, the B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber has been America’s most dependable airborne platform for deterring a nuclear war and waging mass conventional strikes.

Now, after 65 years in service, there is every expectation that with planned new engines and avionic updates this mighty symbol of US military potency could celebrate its centenary in operational service in 2055, a unique milestone in aerospace history.

While the Pentagon waits for the first flight of the next-generation strategic bomber, the exotically shaped and stealthy B-21 Raider, due next year, the US defence department has officially decided to extend the life of the B-52 to 2050 and beyond.

An air force request to suppliers for quieter and more fuel-efficient engines, of which there are eight on each aircraft, should make it possible for the B-52 not only to reach its centenary mark but to do so with less need for mid-air refuelling. The present engines give an un-refuelled range of about 8,800 miles; the new ones could extend that to more than 12,300 miles. Rolls-Royce is among the companies competing for the contract for 608 new engines.

The B-52 may be a relic of the Cold War but it is still relied on by the Pentagon as a “big stick” to be reckoned with. It is an extraordinary aviation story. No such longevity will be granted to the bat-winged B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which came into service in 1993 and is likely to be phased out from 2032, a mere 39 years.

The B-52 has gone through a series of refits, refurbishments and upgrades to save it from the scrapheap. The eight-engined Big Ugly Fat Fellow (Buff), as it is affectionately known, has a wing span of more than 184ft (56m) and a distinctive nose that inspired the 1960s pop culture beehive hairstyle. The cultural references expanded with the eponymous American band forming in 1976 and legend has it that the coffee-based cocktail was invented a year later.

Standing under the wings of one of the earlier versions, the B-52G, on display at the national museum of nuclear science and history in Albuquerque, New Mexico, gives an idea of what a mouse must feel when shadowed by a golden eagle or a condor.

However, it is not just its size and huge weapons payload, nuclear or conventional, that has given the B-52 its awesome reputation. It is an aircraft that is as happy flying at low altitude, down to 200ft with terrain-following radar, as it is at high altitude, at least 41,000ft.

“It’s like an old truck that was built when they actually built them tough,” General Charles Brown, US air force chief of staff, told The Wall Street Journal.

When the retired air force colonel Fran Gibbons first flew the B-52 on nuclear-deterrent operations in 1976, he already thought of it as an old aircraft; after all, it was designed in 1948 and had its maiden flight in 1952.

“I’m 68, so the B-52 is about my age — and I’m retired with seven grandchildren,” he told The Times from his home in Rockwall, Texas. As a second lieutenant he had dreams of being a fighter pilot but he was selected for bombers: the B-52. “I was a fighter pilot in a bomber’s body.”

However, it was a move he never came to regret. He carried out nuclear-deterrent patrols, always in US airspace, up to 1989 when the Cold War came to an end. “I never had to fly the B-52 towards the Soviet Union,” he said.

In the 1960s it had a round-the-clock deterrent role with a dozen B-52s on continuous airborne alert, packed with nuclear bombs, in an operation codenamed Chrome Dome. The bombers’ bellies were painted white to deflect the heat of a nuclear explosion.

Although the threat of nuclear war in the late 1970s and 1980s diminished, Mr Gibbons has not forgotten the responsibility he carried with him every time he flew. “There was always a sense of gravity, and you had to keep up with the news,” he said. “I flew three or four times a month for eight to 13 hours at a time, one week on, two weeks off. It was a large aircraft to fly but it was safe and always brought me home.”

He is proud of the B-52’s enduring service and has filled his home with pictures of the plane, and plaques commemorating special events.

He flew the B-52G, which had a crew of six, including a tail gunner. The last enemy aircraft shot down by a B-52 tail gunner was in 1972 in the Vietnam War but 17 were lost in combat. The requirement for a tail gunner ended in 1991. Today’s version, the B-52H, has a crew of five.

The bomber now has an expanded conventional role, with a 32-tonne weapons payload.

As part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, during the Gulf War, B-52s delivered 40 per cent of all the weapons brought in for the US-led coalition air forces, underlining the effectiveness of the plane in a conventional role. It also played a prominent strike role in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.For the air force and US strategic command, the longevity, ruggedness and adaptability of the B-52 have been remarkable features of a remarkable bomber. A total of 744 B-52s with eight Pratt & Whitney engines were built by Boeing during the Cold War.

Today, 76 of the H models are in operation, frequently flying in pairs from their base in North Dakota to the Middle East and South China Sea to demonstrate to potential adversaries — Iran and China — that the B-52 should never be underestimated. They will probably continue to do so for at least another 30 years.