History
The United States Air Force (USAF) was hesitant to adopt the B-52, with the preliminary design program taking a roller-coaster ride and the project nearly abandoned several times. However, Boeing persisted with the design, and the Air Force finally decided it was the weapon they wanted. After that uncertain start, the USAF ended up buying over twice as many B-52s as originally planned, in one of the most expensive military procurement programs in US history.
In late 1945, the USAAF began evaluating requirements for such a new bomber, and on 13 February 1946 the service issued a formal specification for it, specifying greater speed than the B-36 and an operational radius of 8,050 kilometers (5,000 miles).
The Boeing company responded with a design with the company designation of "Model 462", which looked something like a scaled-up B-29 Superfortress with six Wright T35 Typhoon turboprop engines, providing 4,100 kW (5,500 SHP) each. The USAAF liked the idea, and on 5 June 1946 awarded Boeing a study contract for the machine, which was given the military designation "XB-52" not long after. The contract specified a full-scale mockup but not a functioning prototype.
After cancelling several concepts Boeing worked on, the Air Force was beginning to want better performance, and was also very interested in Northrop's flying wing bombers, which appeared to be the way of the future at the time. The XB-52 project edged back towards cancellation.
In June 1948, Stalin imposed a blockade on Berlin, bringing the Cold War on in earnest. The Air Force immediately brought the B-52 project back to the front burner, awarding a contract for a mock-up and two flying prototypes, with the first prototype to be ready by early 1951. Government funding began to ramp up. On 14 February 1951, Boeing was awarded a contract for 13 "B-52As".
The B-52H
Because of problems with it's B-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber, of which eventually only two experimental vehicles were build, the Air Force gave Boeing a contract to build the final B-52 variant, the "B-52H". The USAF was also interested in obtaining the "GAM-87 Skybolt" air-launched ballistic missile, which the new B-52 could then carry.
The B-52H was to carry four Skybolts, with two on each underwing pylon. The Skybolt, however, was cancelled in December 1962 due to cost overruns, and the B-52H would never carry it operationally.
The B-52H was given structural reinforcements, because of new low-level tactics. It was also fitted with the P&W TF33-3 turbofan, a derivative of the J57, with 75.6 kN (7,710 kg / 17,000 lbs) thrust. A B-52G had been temporarily fitted with these engines to validate their use for the B-52H, with some sources claiming this machine was redesignated the "YB-52H".
Although the new TF33s suffered from some flaws that would lead to a service update program in the early 1960s, they were otherwise a great improvement over the J57 all around. The TF33s eliminated the noisy and dirty water injection scheme of the J57 while providing much greater maximum thrust, and gave a smoother, quieter ride that made life easier for its crews.
The TF33s were also much more fuel-efficient, which meant the B-52H had about 20% greater range than the B-52G. The Air Force demonstrated the increased range of the B-52H when, on 10:11 January 1962, one of them flew from Kadena AFB on Okinawa to Torrejon AFB in Spain nonstop, unrefueled, a distance of 20,177 kilometers (12,532 miles).
The first B-52H performed its initial flight on 6 March 1961. Boeing-Wichita built 102, with the last rolled out on 22 June 1962, after a total production of 744 B-52s of all types at a cost of $4.5 billion USD. At its peak, the B-52 equipped 42 SAC bomber squadrons, dispersed to 38 different airbases.
Although most of the B-52Hs were delivered with the same wing design as used on the B-52G, the last 18 were fitted with a modified and strengthened wing. The original B-52G wing turned out to be more prone to structural fatigue from the new low-level operations than the wings of earlier B-52 models.
All earlier B-52Hs and all B-52Gs were refitted with the stronger wing in the 1962:1964 timeframe. The re-winging effort was conducted more or less in parallel with a more general program of structural reinforcements for most of the B-52 fleet under the designation "High Stress".
In addition, late production B-52Hs were fitted with improved avionics for the low-level role, including modifications to existing systems and addition of radar altimeters and terrain avoidance gear. These features were retrofitted to most earlier B-52s in operational service through the "Big Four" program, which was also performed in the early 1960s.
Beginning in the early 1990s, a number of B-52Hs were fitted to carry the "AGM-142 Have Nap" standoff weapon, an Americanized variant of the Israeli Rafael "Popeye" missile produced in cooperation with Lockheed Martin. The AGM-142 is a solid-fuel missile with a 900 kilogram (2,000 pound) warhead and a precision imaging guidance system for pinpoint attacks. The radar navigator guides it to a target using a joystick and watching the images from the missile's seeker on a display. Two AGM-142s, or an AGM-142 and a guidance pod, could be carried on each B-52H external pylon.
Later on in the decade, the B-52H was fitted to carry the new "Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)" and "Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW)" guided glide bombs. These weapons use the "Global Positioning System (GPS)" satellite constellation to zero in on target coordinates. Use of the JDAM and other GPS weapons was enabled by yet another Buff avionics upgrade, the "Conventional Enhancement Modification (CEM)" program, which was begun in 1994. New kit provided by CEM includes:
- A GPS navigation receiver.
- A modern AN/ARC-210 VHF/UHF radio, with secure voice encryption and antijam capabilities.
- A MIL-STD 1760 databus for support of new smart munitions, such as JDAM and JSOW.
- An improved "heavy stores adapter beam (HSAB)" to replace the old external stores pylons originally built to carry the Hound Dog. The HSAB not only can handle a greater weight of stores, but is much more flexible, able to carry a wide range of stores.
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Sep. 24th, 2008 | Boeing Awarded Contract for B-52 Advanced Targeting
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Sep. 15th, 2008 | Boeing Laser JDAM Demonstrated on B-52H for 1st Time
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Sep. 10th, 2008 | B-52s roar over Guam during bomber surge
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Jul. 30th, 2008 | B-52H reaches retirement
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- Accident investigation board convened to investigate B-52 crash
- Officials name downed B-52 aircrew members
- Search effort continues following B-52 crash
- B-52 crashes off coast of Guam
- Boeing Awarded B-52 Airborne Electronic Attack Technical Maturation Contract
- USAF formally revives B-52 jammer with five-year study
- Korea, U.S. join forces for Exercise Max Thunder
- B-52 presence on Guam demonstrates global strike capabilities
- Upgraded B-52 still on cutting edge
- Deployed B-52 bombers complete first multi-location, simultaneous sortie
- Stratofortress' deploy to Pacific, support continuous bomber presence
- Senate votes to maintain B-52s at Minot AFB
- Upgrades to simulator helps B-52H pilots train better
- 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron demos B-52's LITENING pod visual feed
- Boeing Teams with Northrop Grumman to Develop B-52H Core Component Jammer
- Air Force releases B-52 munitions transfer investigation results
- Inert weapons dropped for first time in Koa Lightning exercise
- C-17 alternative fuel research tests to begin
- B-52 mistakenly flies with nukes aboard
- Barksdale Airmen recreate history
Specifications
| Version | B-52 H |
| Length | 159ft 48.5m |
| Height | 40.8ft 12.5m |
| Wingspan | 185ft 56.4m |
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B-52H Stratofortress Videos | 15 Videos Available!
First 5 videos, click to go to the B-52H Stratofortress video gallery:
Sources & Recommended Websites:
Information from VectorSite.net and various Boeing press releases.
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This page was last updated on: 2006-04-03
