The B-52 bomber remains essential due to structural viability and cutting-edge upgrades. Despite its 1960s origins, enhanced ...

The B-52 Stratofortress can carry up to 70,000 pounds of ordinance, surpassing other US bombers. Originally equipped with a defensive cannon, B-52s were later modified to carry cruise missiles.

From serving as the key component of our air-launched leg of the nuclear triad, to a versatile conventional asset able to drop a multitude of different munitions, the B-52 can do it all.

First taking to the skies in April 1952, and introduced into the US Air Force in 1955, the B-52 Stratofortress has since become a mainstay of American air power. Originally developed as a nuclear ...

Because bombers are most frequently flown at high altitudes (the B-52 can cruise at 50,000 feet), they rarely show up in the video footage aired on television news programs. Such aircraft are more ...

and can maneuver on the way to its target. Even as China and Russia work to develop their own strategic bombers, matching the B-52’s capabilities will be tough for these U.S. adversaries.

Considering that the primary goal of the project was to test strategic assets like the B-52 Stratofortress and the E-4 National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP), the modified Boeing 747 ...