B-52 Superfortress

A classic aircraft design still in service more than fifty years after the first version flew, the Boeing B-52 is a heavy bomber operated by the United States Air Force. The official "name" of Stratofortress has never been widely used; perhaps the most common name for it in the military is BUFF, an abbreviation for Big Ugly Fat Fellow. The final model, B-52H, is expected to stay in active service until at least 2030. The B-52 celebrated its 50th anniversary (first flight April 1952) in April 2002 and is the longest serving combat aircraft in the world - a total of 744 were built.

The B-52H entered service in 1961 and 104 were built. The last was delivered in 1962. However, due to extensive system and structural upgrades, its service life is expected to continue beyond the year 2030.

Originally intended to fly high and fast to targets in the Soviet Union, improvements in the Soviet integrated air defense system made such a flight path suicidal, except when firing long-range air-to-surface missiles. In the nuclear delivery role, the aircraft was mechanically strengthened and given penetration flight paths at extremely low altitude.

In its present uses, the B-52 flies at high altitude, generally over areas where the air defenses are nonexistent or have been suppressed.

Flight systems

System	Component
AN/ASQ-151 electro-optical viewing system (EVS)	AN/AAQ-6 Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR)
AN/ASQ-151 electro-optical viewing system (EVS)	AN/AVQ-22 low-light-level television camera (LLTV)

Offensive armament

Avionics

System	Component	Function
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)		Northrop Grumman strategic radar
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)		Honeywell radar altimeter
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)		Smiths attitude heading and reference system
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)		TERCOM terrain contour mapping
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)	AN/ASN-131	inertial navigation system (to be replaced with AN/SNU-84
AN/ASQ-176 Offensive Avionics System (OAS)	AN/ASQ-38	bombing and navigation system

Weapons

Current B-52H aircraft carry all munitions in the internal bomb bay, although other models have variously carried air-to-surface missiles, decoys, or racks for additional conventional bombs on the wings.

The B-52H, with a weapons payload of more than 70,000lb, is capable of carrying the most diverse range of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons of any combat aircraft.

Nuclear weapons

Weapon	Type	Quantity	Comments
B83	gravity bomb with megaton-range yield	up to 8
B61	gravity bomb of moderate yield,	up to 8	one version with limited subsurface penetration
AGM-86A Air Launched Cruise Missile	standoff missile	up to 20	up to 1500mi/2400 km range

The conventional weapons payload is four AGM-142 Raptor missiles, 20 AGM-86C Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCM), 12 Joint Stand Off Weapons (JSOW), 12 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and 16 Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD). WCMD was first deployed by the B-52 in 2002 in Afghanistan. JSOW entered service in 2003 and was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Conventional weapons

Weapon	Type	Quantity	Comments
Mk. 82 bomb	500 pound high explosive	up to 51	can be converted to JDAM
Mk. 83 bomb	1000 pound high explosive	up to 30	can be converted to JDAM
Mk. 84 bomb/JDAM	2000 pound high explosive	up to 12	usually configured as JDAM
AGM-84 Harpoon	anti-shipping missile	up to 8	-
Small Diameter Bomb	Gravity bomb; can be guided	up to 32	For minimum collateral damage
AGM-164 Joint Standoff Weapon	Conventional air-launched cruise missileanti-shipping missile	up to 12	1200 km (750 miles) range; AGM-86C blast-fragmentation, AGM-86D hard target
Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser	gliding, guided cluster bomb	up to 16
AGM-86 CALCM	Conventional air-launched cruise missile	up to 8	1200 km (750 miles) range; AGM-86C blast-fragmentation, AGM-86D hard target
Naval mine		up to 20

Defensive systems

While early B-52 aircraft were equipped with radar-controlled 20mm autocannon in the tail, all defensive equipment is now for electronic warfare, including defense against heat-seeking missiles.

Designation	Description
AN/ALQ-172(V)2	Radar detection and jamming
AN/ALR-20A	Radar detection and threat prioritization
AN/ALR-46	Radar warning
AN/ALQ-155	High power jammer
AN/ALQ-122	Dece[tove jammer
AN/ALR-155	High power jammer
AN/ALQ-122	Tail-mounted radar warning
AN/ALR-155	High power jammer
AN/ALE-20	Infrared flare decoy dispenser
AN/ALE-24	chaff dispenser for radar reflectors