I never had the chance, unfortunately, to stand underneath a B-52 Stratofortress bomber as it took off..Yes, I saw one do a fly-by at an airshow in SoCal, but no, never stood by a runway like an airport rat, watching, listening to this big eight-engine bastard take off..They say it's amazing — the epitome of power. And man, is it ever powerful..And that wing-span, wow! — 56 metres! That is one big bird..You've probably seen the movie, Dr. Strangelove, where Major Kong (Slim Pickens) gets the bomb doors open to drop a nuke on a Russian nuclear silo..He rides it down, like a rodeo cowboy, swinging his cowboy hat all the way.. Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove.Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove. .That Stanley Kubrick, he sure had a sense of humour..Known as the BUFF, for "Big Ugly Fat F--ker," the B-52 went into service in 1955, the year I was born..Unlike me, partially retired, the B-52 has no intention of going into retirement. Oh no, the BUFF is just coming into its own. Its five-man crew, serving and protecting..It is getting all-new engines — the four engine pods, made up of two nacelles each, will house eight Rolls-Royce F130 engines in total..Wind tunnel testing for the long-range heavy bomber has been completed, according to Boeing..The F130 engines will be significantly more fuel efficient and maintenance-friendly than the Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-103 engines they'll be replacing..While TF33s have certainly helped the B-52 achieve its 68 years of service, they have simply become too expensive to maintain..After a three-year-long battle, Rolls-Royce was awarded the US$500.8 million contract (with the potential to reach $2.6 billion if all of its options are exercised.).The B-52 Stratofortress is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the US inventory — this is what makes it so special.. The B-52 Stratofortress.The B-52 Stratofortress. .This includes gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions..Updated with modern technology, the BUFF, amazingly, is expected to continue as an important US defense element through to the year 2050 — an incredible aerospace achievement..To the North Vietnamese Army, it was known as the “Dien Bien Phu of the Air” — nothing unleashed hell like a fully laden B-52..In late 1972, the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command spooled up its B-52 wings for mass attacks on North Vietnamese targets US President Richard Nixon hoped would influence ceasefire negotiations between Hanoi and Saigon..SAC called the operation “Linebacker II.”.Flying in three-plane formations at an altitude of 30,000 feet or higher, the 159-foot bombers would drive straight into Hanoi without changing altitude, jinking or maneuvering at all. The idea was for the three bombers to cover each other with their powerful radar-jammers..After dropping their loads of up to 108 500- and 750-pound bombs, the B-52s would turn away from Hanoi as a formation and head back to base..The North Vietnamese air defenders opened up with everything they had. Hundreds of surface-to-air missiles arced into the sky..It would be a bloodbath..In 11 days of raids in 1972, SAC launched 729 B-52 sorties. The North Vietnamese in return fired around 900 surface-to-air missiles. Fifteen B-52s were shot down — all by SAMs — and several others were damaged beyond repair..Eighteen crew died. Fifteen went missing..The bombers in return inflicted heavy damage on North Vietnamese military and industrial facilities. Thousands of Vietnamese died..Each bomb could produce a crater 36 feet deep and 50 feet in diameter. It could also penetrate 11 feet of concrete, while sending lethal shrapnel 1,200 feet.. The model B-52 in a wind tunnel.The model B-52 in a wind tunnel. .But all that massive destruction had little effect on the negotiations..The B-52 was a "flying bomb," said one former pilot. "It had 312,000 pounds of fuel and 70,000 pounds of bombs."."You get hit by a surface-to-air missile, and your odds aren't good.".The new B-52 will have several advantages its previous iterations didn't..For one, a brand new radar — the state-of-the-art Raytheon AN/APG-79..According to Breaking Defense, the B-52 will need modifications to its cooling systems, and the radar itself will be positioned “upside down” so that it can look down at the ground rather than the upward positioning used for the Super Hornet..The new tech will improve situational awareness, and give the B-52 a better ability to identify and prosecute targets. As if it needed more lethality!.And then comes the pièce de résistance — an all new, simplified, super cool glass cockpit..According to Air & Space Forces, the new B-52 cockpit will take on a cleaner, more streamlined appearance..The digital image released by Boeing shows a layout with many new “glass cockpit” colour displays, but retaining some of the “steam gauges” and analog-style displays.. The older, Vietnam-era B-52 cockpit.The older, Vietnam-era B-52 cockpit .Dominating the dashboard will be four large colour multi-function displays which will present a variety of flight status information, as well as imagery from the B-52’s new radar system, presentations of the new datalink and imagery from Sniper or Litening optical/infrared targeting pods..The displays may also play a role in employment of the B-52’s new hypersonic weapons — the bomber will be the initial platform for the AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW — as well as its new nuclear weapon, the Long-Range Stand-Off missile, or LRSO..The centre console will also feature an updated throttle station to control the B-52’s eight new Rolls Royce F130 engines, which will be digitally managed..Oh, and one more thing..Air Force officials said they're contemplating re-naming the B-52H the B-52I or B-52J after it receives new radars and engines, because the aircraft will be substantially different enough after the upgrades to warrant a new designator and to keep clearer records of maintenance and pilot hours..I say they call it the MB-52, for "The Mighty BUFF.".Why the hell not?. The advanced glass cockpit of the new B-52.The advanced glass cockpit of the new B-52.
