What you need to know: The B-52 Stratofortress, designed in 1948 and in service since 1952, is America’s longest-serving bomber, renowned for its durability, adaptability and strategic impact in conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq.

-With a payload of 70,000 pounds and high altitude capability, it is a legacy of effective military acquisition.

-Unlike modern, expensive systems like the F-22 Raptor, the B-52’s simplicity and rugged design have ensured longevity and cost-effectiveness, outlasting its successors. Its success underscores the Pentagon’s past ability to procure durable and reliable systems, in contrast to today’s complex and costly acquisitions.

The B-52 Stratofortress: the unstoppable American bomber from 1952 to today

The legacy of the B-52 offers lessons for future military equipment purchases.

The B-52 Stratofortress was designed in 1948, and it first flew in 1952. The Stratofortress was designed to be powered by a jet engine rather than a propeller – a necessary development in long-range bomber design. Intended for long-range bombing, the Boeing-built giant could fly at extraordinary altitudes and drop a remarkable amount of munitions over targets.

These bombers were used to flying without fighter escort. In fact, they were designed to fly solo – something the propeller-driven bombers of World War II were not accustomed to, although they did so, at great peril to their crews, when the mission demanded it. .

The B-52 Stratofortress: a historic legacy

The Boeing B-52 bomber arrived by plane every post-World War II conflict the United States fought. It was a particularly useful asset during the Vietnam War, when the United States dropped more bombs than during the Second World War. The B-52 delivered some of the biggest punches to North Vietnamese targets.

From threatening to rain nuclear hell on the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, to blowing up North Vietnamese formations, to wiping out ISIS fighters in the 1990s 2000, the B-52 still proved to be America’s most successful bomber. history. It is probably the oldest and most efficient bomber in the history of aviation.

Powered Powered by eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 turbofan engines and carrying a payload of 70,000 pounds (these beauties can also fire air-launched cruise missiles), the B-52 Stratofortress was responsible for approximately 40% of all munitions dropped. targets in Desert Storm. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, B-52Hs fired 100 CALCM on one night mission in March 2003.

This bomber lacks the sophisticated stealth capabilities that many modern U.S. bombers and fighters possess, but it does have advanced targeting pods, electro-optical viewing sensors, and a forward-looking infrared system that help to improve its lethality (and better protect its crew of five). against threats).

It can’t fly at supersonic speeds, but it flies at 50,000 feet and can even help the U.S. Navy with its anti-ship and minelaying missions.

More than anything, the B-52 is durable. With only a few improvements made to the aircraft here and there in each generation, the B-52 continues to fly, and it will continue to fly. continue flying until he almost reached his centenary.

Think about it. The B-52 Stratofortress was designed and fielded when Harry S. Truman was president. However, to this day it remains the main strategic bomber of the US Air Force.

This is an incredible feat.

Signs of a Faulty Acquisition System

The success of the Stratofortress is a testament to the effectiveness and reliability of the Pentagon’s early acquisition system. For triple the price of the B-52 program, the Air Force spent significant time and taxpayer money to build the F-22 Raptor. Touted as a fifth-generation fighter capable of demonstrating unprecedented air superiority over near-near adversaries, barely a fraction of the planned fighters were built – over cost and over time – before politicians cancel the program.

Without ever having reached its full potential, the F-22 is already foreseen will be retired over the next few years as the Air Force spends even more taxpayer money to develop its replacement.

Thus, as the Air Force develops and deploys a possible sixth generation warplaneThe 1948 B-52 Stratofortress will still fly high, dropping bombs on America’s enemies and keeping its overhead low. There are no sophisticated systems on the bomber. No kitschy computer gadgets that increase costs and delay production, like most Air Force warplanes do today. It’s just old-fashioned high-altitude flying. And these beasts have yet to be thwarted by the type of air defense that many great powers deploy against American air power.

Affordable, efficient and effective over decades. This is not how most people view military equipment. Defense contractors rarely produce such engineering marvels. And the Department of Defense seems almost preternaturally incapable of demanding simple, affordable, relatively easy-to-maintain weapon systems.

It’s all complex, expensive, and so technical that losing a unit in combat could be catastrophic for any war effort, given the time it takes to build a replacement unit and train new personnel to operate that system. The B-52 is the exception to this rule. As such, Pentagon acquisition experts need to study this program with more curiosity and try to understand how they can apply lessons from building and maintaining the B-52 to next-generation combat systems.

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weicherta national security project of national interest analystis a former congressman and geopolitical analyst who contributes to The Washington Times, Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is now available from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock.

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