Could the classic B-52 bomber fly close to 100-years?
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
Could the classic B-52 bomber fly close to 100-years? What might seem like a preposterous suggestion could actually become a reality due to paradigm-changing upgrades, sustainment efforts and modernization initiatives which have moved the plane into a 21st-century threat environment.
Today’s B-52 may essentially operate with the same airframe as it did at its inception in the 1950s, yet it is an entirely different platform in nearly every other respect. Senior Air Force weapons developers talking to Warrior about the B-52 have said that airframes themselves can remain viable for many years beyond their anticipated lifespan, particularly with some structural reinforcements.
New F130 Engine
The most recent development with continued B-52 improvement pertains to the well-known re-engining effort for the aircraft. For many years now, the Air Force has been working with Boeing and Rolls Royce to integrate a new more powerful and efficient engine for the B-52.
Rolls Royce, Boeing and the Air Force recently achieved an important milestone and completed a critical design review of the engine, a development which enables ongoing testing to remain on track. A recently published essay from Rolls-Royce explained that the altitude testing is slated to occur in February 2025 at the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Rolls-Royce further explained that the first phases of sea-level tests have also been completed, something which greatly helped solidify data-analysis for the new engine. The success of the recent testing, according to Rolls-Royce, helped validate the F130 engine’s dual pod configuration as well.
B-52J to Fly to 2050
The new F130 engine is a critical element of the emerging US Air Force B-52J variant expected to continue flying into the coming decades. While there has been some structural reinforcement performed on the airframe, the aircraft has received an entirely new suite of avionics, computing command and control technology and weapons configurations. These B-52 advancements have been underway for many years at this point, improvements which will greatly fortify the most recent and cutting-edge B-52J.
The improvements are multi-faceted as they include the addition of a modernized digital communications system known as Combat Network Communication Technology, (CONECT). Not only does CONECT accelerate and refine data transmission, management, collection and storage but it also helps the service advance tactics and concepts of operation for the modern B-52. With CONECT, crews conducting operations are now capable of receiving in-flight intelligence information and target updates in a way that was not previously possible. An interesting US Air Force essay from as far back as 2016 discusses CONECT as the “first major digital upgrade” to the B-52 enhancing communication and situational awareness.
Using what’s called an ARC 210 Warrior software-programmable voice and data radio, pilots using CONECT can now send and receive targeting data, mapping information or intelligence with ground stations, command centers and other aircraft..
Internal Weapons Bay
The B-52 has also in recent years received a massive internal weapons bay upgrade which has completely changed its bomb-carrying and attack capacity. The 1760 Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade, or IWBU, will allow the B-52 to internally carry up to eight of the newest “J-Series” bombs in addition to carrying six on pylons under each wing.
The B-52 have previously been able to carry JDAM weapons externally, but with the IWBU the aircraft will be able to internally house some of the most cutting edge precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, among others.
Additional weapons upgrades are impacting the tactical approach fundamental to the B-52, evolving what began as an “area-weapon” into a platform capable of much more advanced precision, long-range attacks. As an area-attack platform, the B-52 has historically been able to drop massive amounts of “unguided” are bombs to blanket an enemy area with attack and also enable ground-forces to maneuver into improved formations.
The B-52 is expected to receive the emerging nuclear-capable Long Range Stand-Off missile, a missile which greatly increases the range and attack possibilities for the B-52 moving beyond its legacy Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM).
The B-52, which has been nuclear capable for decades, has also been considered as an “arsenal plane” or massive “bomb truck” capable of transporting munitions in support of attack missions and potentially even launching drones.
B-52 Legacy
The B-52 has a massive, 185-foot wingspan, a weight of about 185,000 pounds and an ability to reach high sub-sonic speeds and altitudes of 50,000 feet, Air Force officials said.
Known for massive bombing missions during the Vietnam War, the 159-foot long B-52s have in more recent years been operated over Afghanistan and served as far back as Operation Desert Storm. “B-52s struck wide-area troop concentrations, fixed installations and bunkers, and decimated the morale of Iraq’s Republican Guard,” an Air Force statement from many years ago said.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.