26 Facts About B-52

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber.

The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades.

The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command until it was disestablished in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command ; in 2010, all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command.

The B-52 completed 60 years of continuous service with its original operator in 2015.

In July 2013, the USAF began a fleet-wide technological upgrade of its B-52 bombers called Combat Network Communications Technology to modernize electronics, communications technology, computing, and avionics on the flight deck.

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The first phase will allow a B-52 to carry twenty-four GBU-38 500-pound guided bombs or twenty GBU-31 2,000-pound bombs, with later phases accommodating the JASSM and MALD family of missiles.

B-52 shared many technological similarities with the preceding B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.

In September 2006, the B-52 became one of the first US military aircraft to fly using alternative fuel.

On 15 December 2006, a B-52 took off from Edwards with the synthetic fuel powering all eight engines, the first time a USAF aircraft was entirely powered by the blend.

The navigational capabilities of the B-52 were later augmented with the addition of GPS in the 1980s.

The B-52 was to have been modified to utilize Northrop Grumman's AGM-137 TSSAM weapon; however, the missile was canceled due to development costs.

The B-1 has the internal weapons bay space to carry more GBU-31 JDAMs and JASSMs, but the B-52 upgraded with the conventional rotary launcher can carry more of other JDAM variants.

Eight engines of the B-52 are paired in pods and suspended by four pylons beneath and forward of the wings' leading edge.

The training for B-52 crews consisted of five weeks of ground school and four weeks of flying, accumulating 35 to 50 hours in the air.

On 18 December 1972 tail gunner Staff Sergeant Samuel O Turner's B-52 had just completed a bomb run for Operation Linebacker II and was turning away, when a Vietnam People's Air Force MiG-21 approached.

The B-1, intended to supplant the B-52, replaced only the older models and the supersonic FB-111.

B-52 strikes were an important part of Operation Desert Storm.

On 24 March 1999, when Operation Allied Force began, B-52 bombers bombarded Serb targets throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including during the Battle of Kosare.

B-52 contributed to Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, providing the ability to loiter high above the battlefield and provide Close Air Support through the use of precision guided munitions, a mission which previously would have been restricted to fighter and ground attack aircraft.

B-52 can be highly effective for ocean surveillance, and can assist the Navy in anti-ship and mine-laying operations.

The B-52 fleet has been certified to use Quickstrike family of naval mines using JDAM-ER guided wing kits.

The B-52 has continued in service because there has been no reliable replacement.

The B-52 has the capacity to "loiter" for extended periods, and can deliver precision standoff and direct fire munitions from a distance, in addition to direct bombing.

On 12 November 2015, the B-52 began freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea in response to Chinese man-made islands in the region.

B-52 went through several design changes and variants over its 10 years of production.

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B-52 carrying nuclear weapons was a key part of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 black comedy film Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.