Photograph:
Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2596 arriving at Darwin, NT in May 1990 (Robert Alford)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Long-range strategic bomber
Power Plant:
Eight 13,750 lbst Pratt & Whitney J-57-43WB turbojets
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 56.38 m (185 ft)
- Length: 48.06 m (157 ft 7 in)
- Height: 12.43 m (40 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 371.6 m² (4,000 sq ft)
- Max speed: 1,014 km/h (630 mph)
- Cruising speed: 909 km/h (565 mph)
- Service ceiling: 18,288 m (60,000 ft)
- Range: 20,116 km (12,500 miles)
- Empty weight: 100,407 kg (221,357 lb)
- Loaded weight: 221,116 kg (488,000 lb)
Armament:
Four 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in tail turret; two North American AGM²8 Hound
Dog missiles; 20 supersonic Boeing AGM-69A SRAM missiles; nuclear weapons internally;
conventional bomb load up to 27,216 kg (60,000 lb) internally and externally
History:
Although flown for the first time in prototype YB-52 form on 15 April 1952, and entering service with the 93rd Bomb Wing of Strategic Air Command at Castle Air Force Base in California in June 1952, the B-52, albeit in much modified form, remains in service with the USAF, and is expected to remain so for some years to come. In its heyday during the cold war in the fifties and sixties the threat of nuclear war was almost solely held at bay for the west by the B-52 until the introduction of the inter-continental ballistic missile. Even at that time the B-52 played an important role, and its use in the role of bomber with conventional bombs in Vietnam proved it to be one of the greatest bombers built.
Two prototypes were built, the XB-52 (49-230) and the YB-52 (49-231), which had a tandem pilot cockpit and four landing-gear trucks on the centre-line in pairs. Fuel was housed in six fuselage and seven wing tanks. One novel feature was the ability of the undercarriage to castor, all four units being able to rotate through an angle of up to 20 degrees prior to landing according to the cross-wind.
The second prototype (49-231) made its first flight on 15 April 1952 and was flown to Larson Air Force Base at Moses Lake in Washington State for testing, being powered by the Pratt & Whitney J-57 engine. At that time Boeing had received a Letter of Intent from the US Government to obtain 500 aircraft.
The requirement to put the type into service with Strategic Air Command was urgent, and two plants were to provide aircraft, with many well known aviation companies supplying parts. With the outbreak of the war in Korea an order was placed in 1952 for three B-52As to continue the test program, this differing in having the pilots seated side-by-side.
The first B-52A (52-001) flew on 5 August 1954 and the first production model, the B-52B, of which 50 were delivered, had 12,100 lbst Pratt & Whitney J-578-19W or -29W engines. In the early days the B-52 had the worst safety record for a large aircraft in the USAF but these problems were overcome and the first B-52C was rolled out on 7 December 1955, having a gross weight of 204,120 kg (450,000 lb), the first flying on 9 March 1956, withy 35 delivered.
Production of the Boeing B-52D commenced at the Wichita, Kansas facility, 170 being delivered. At this time the Soviet Myasischev M-4 ‘Bison’ and Tupolev Tu-95 ‘Bear’ strategic bombers were causing concern to US defence planners, the Boeing KC-135 tanker also entering production to support the B-52 fleet, 20 of each aircraft type being delivered per month.
A program was put in place to convert Convair B-36 Wings of the USAAF to the B-52, the first B-52D flying at Wichita, on 14 May 1956, and was similar to the B-52C. More aircraft were lost in accidents and the type was grounded on a couple of occasions. On 16 January 1957 three B-52Bs from Castle AFB in California flew non-stop around the world, returning on 18 January after travelling 39,146 km (24,325 miles) in a time of 45 hours 19 mins. The Model B-52E was built at Seattle in Washington State, 100 being delivered, and the first of 89 B-52Fs was flown on 6 May 1958 with 13,750 lbst Pratt & Whitney J-57 engines.
The B-52G had the wing fuel bladders removed and the wing was manufactured from machined skins which formed integral tanks, increasing fuel capacity to 176,286 litres (38,778 Imp gals), the 11,355 litres (2,498 Imp gals) wing fuel tanks being replaced by 2,649 litres (582 Imp gals) tanks.
Although designed to carry nuclear weapons, it was soon found necessary to make modifications to the B-52D to carry NASA and USAF research aircraft, and to carry ‘iron bombs’. When first designed it was to carry a 4,536 kg (10,000 lb) bomb load but this increased to 12,247 kg (27,000 lb) and even larger loads were carried during the Vietnam War.
Production of the B-52 Stratofortress lasted for 11 years, and a total of 744 was built, of which 725 were delivered to Strategic Air Command (SAC) Bomber Wings. Two of the B-52As were modified to carry the X-15 during the rocket-powered aircraft’s test program at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The B-52B and B-52C, of which 50 and 35 were built respectively, had a reconnaissance capability in addition to their strategic role.
The B-52G was significantly re-designed from the earlier models, including having a modified shorter vertical tail and installation of fuel tanks in the wings. The tail gunner was moved forward and operated four 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns from the crew compartment. In the B-52H the machine guns were replaced by a T-171 20 mm rotary cannon. In the B-52G the Pratt & Whitney J-57 engines provided 13,750 lbst compared to 10,000 lbst of the previous model, and in the B-52H 17,000 lbst Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans were installed.
The biggest advance in the B-52 design was the B-52H, of which 102 were built, the first of this model flying on 16 March 1961, much development being aimed at permitting the new model to operate safely at low level. The last B-52H was delivered on 26 October 1962. During that year a B-52H set eleven distance, course and speed records by flying 20,146.8 km (12,519 miles) without refuelling; and various other long distance records have been set over the years.
The first time the type saw combat was in 1965 when B-52s from Anderson Air Force base in Guam bombed targets in South Vietnam, and 11 months later strikes commenced on North Vietnam. Eventually operational flights were made by units based in Thailand, reaching a climax with Lineback operations in 1972 aimed at destroying the war resources of North Vietnam.
Over the years the B-52 has carried a variety of weapons, including the AGM-84A Harpoon anti-ship missile, short-range attack missiles, air-launched cruise missiles, Skybolt GAM-87A missile, Hound Dog GAM-77 missile, Quail ADM-20 missile, AN/ALE-25 Rrocket pod and up to 108 bombs in the bomb bay and on underwing pylons.
The operational life of the B-52 is coming to a close, with the B-1 and the B-2 in service. However, the B-52H is expected to remain in service for some years to come, with further update programm now complete. Many early models were placed in storage at the Davis Monthan storage facility in Arizona for some years but, following Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements, large numbers of B-52s were scrapped. In the United States the stage has been reached where many of the B-52 crews were not born when their aircraft commenced service.
In late 1989 it was announced that the Northern Territory Museum was to be presented with a B-52G by the United States Government to commemorate the operations of the type from Darwin, NT on exercises over the years, this model being withdrawn to make way for the newer types. B-52s have regularly visited the Northern Territory and on occasions have been further south to make passes at air shows as far south as Avalon, VIC. In later years one has usually been in attendance on the ground at the bi-annual Australian International Air Show. In May 1990 B-52G serial 59-2596 arrived in Darwin flown by a USAF crew and was placed on display inside the museum, becoming the largest museum aircraft in Australia.
By late 2015 the USAF still had 76 examples of the B-52 in service, the last aircraft having been rolled off the production line in 1962. The survivors are expected to remain in service until 2040 when a new long-range strike bomber contracted with Northrop Grumman is expected to become operational.
In mid-2017 Rolls Royce provided an unsolicited bid to re-engine the USAFs remaining fleet of B-52H bombers, the BR.725 engine being aimed at replacing the Pratt & Whitney TF-33 turbofans on a one-for-one basis, providing increased thrust, reduced fuel consumption, and lower maintenance requirements, thus allowing the type to service for a further 30 years. Previous re-engine efforts were not taken up as they were either too expensive, or it was thought it was uneconomical as the B-52 was expected to be replaced. If taken up the proposal could result in an order for up to 650 engines. In recent years Rolls Royce has been testing its F-130 engine for installation on the USAF fleet of B-52s, the aircraft type to be kept in service for years to come. The engines would be built at the Rolls Royce facility at Indianapolis in Indiana, USA, the new model to be known as the B-52J Stratofortress.