Boeing designed the B-52 in the early Cold War as a high-altitude nuclear bomber. The XB-52 first flew on 15 April 1952. The type entered Air Force service in 1955. Production ended in October 1962 after 744 aircraft. Every jet still flying is a B-52H, the last version, first delivered in 1961 and powered by eight Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans.
The airframe is huge: 185-foot wings that droop on the ground and rise in flight, a 159-foot fuselage, and a bicycle landing gear with outrigger wheels near the wingtips. Unrefueled range is about 8,800 miles. Payload is about 70,000 pounds of bombs, mines, or missiles. A five-person crew flies it. The tail gun is gone. Standoff weapons and cruise missiles now do the work that once required flying over the target.
The B-52 has outlasted the mission it was built for. It flew Arc Light strikes in Vietnam, conventional campaigns from Desert Storm onward, and remains part of the nuclear triad. Bases today are Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, and Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, under Air Force Global Strike Command, with Reserve crews also at Barksdale.
Of 744 built, about 76 remain. The Air Force is rebuilding that fleet rather than retiring it. New Rolls-Royce F130 engines, a modern AESA radar, more electrical power, and updated cockpits will turn the B-52H into the B-52J. The plan is to keep the bomber flying into the 2050s, beside the B-21 Raider. The last B-52 left the factory in 1962. The Air Force still expects it to serve past its 100th birthday.
Takeoff
Refueling
Landing
B-52H (published figures)
- Crew: 5
- Powerplant: 8 × Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103, 17,000 lbf each (future B-52J: 8 × Rolls-Royce F130)
- Wingspan: 185 ft
- Length: 159 ft 4 in
- Height: 40 ft 8 in
- Empty weight: ~185,000 lb
- Max takeoff weight: 488,000 lb
- Fuel: ~48,000 gal
- Payload: ~70,000 lb
- Speed: 650 mph (about Mach 0.84–0.86)
- Range: 8,800 miles
- Ceiling: 50,000 ft
- Built (all variants): 744
- First flight: 15 April 1952
- Initial operational capability: 1955
- Last delivery: October 1962
- Inventory: about 76
- Planned service: through the 2050s as the B-52J