by Bill Yenne
The venerable BUFF’s twenty-first century flight deck: A B-52H Stratofortress crew prepares to take fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker during a training mission. USAF
A B-52H Stratofortress takes on fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over the Pacific during Exercise Cope North on February 22, 2011. USAF photo, Sgt. Angelita Lawrence
A 20th Bombardment Squadron B-52H flies over the Pacific Ocean after an air refueling during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in July 2010. RIMPAC is a biennial multinational exercise designed to strengthen regional partnerships and improve interoperability. USAF photo, Sgt. Kamaile Long
B-52H Selected Weapons Systems Options
Sgt. Joshua Cormier and Senior Airman Merritt Shaw perform phase maintenance on a B-52H inside Hangar 1 at Andersen AFB in January 2006. USAF photo, Sgt. Shane Cuomo
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
20 Boeing AGM86B AirLaunched Cruise Missiles (ALCM)
(12 on two underwing pylons; 8 on an internal rotary launcher)
12 Raytheon AGM129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACM) (on two underwing pylons; retired after 2007)
2 B53 thermonuclear bombs (within the bomb bay; retired after 1997)
8 B61 thermonuclear bombs (within the bomb bay)
8 B83 thermonuclear bombs (within the bomb bay)
CONVENTIONAL PRECISION/GUIDED WEAPONS
20 Boeing AGM86C Conventional AirLaunched Cruise Missiles (CALCM)
(12 on two underwing pylons; 8 on an internal rotary launcher)
18 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (12 on two underwing pylons)
8 Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon
8 Rafael/Lockheed Martin AGM-142 Popeye (Have Nap)
18 Raytheon AGM154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) (12 on two underwing pylons)
12 Lockheed Martin AGM158 Joint AirtoSurface Standoff Missile (JASSM) (on two underwing pylons)
30 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) (16 on two underwing pylons)
CONVENTIONAL GRAVITY WEAPONS
51 Mk 36 500–pound DST Destructor Mine
8 Mk 41 2,000–pound DST Destructor Mine
12 Mk 52 1000–pound aircraftlaid bottom mine
8 Mk 55 1000–pound aircraftlaid bottom mine
8 Mk 56 2000–pound antisubmarine mine
8 Mk 60 Alliant Techsystems 2,370–pound
Encapsulated Torpedo (CAPTOR)
51 Mk 62 500–pound Quick Strike Mine
8 Mk 64 2,000–pound Quick Strike Mine
8 Mk 65 2,000–pound Quick Strike Mine
51 Mk 82 500–pound General Purpose Bomb
18 Mk 84 2,000–pound General Purpose Bomb (on two underwing pylons)
51 M117 750–pound General Purpose Bomb
CONVENTIONAL GRAVITY WEAPONS (CLUSTER BOMB UNITS)
51 CBU-52 70–pound antipersonnel weapon (27 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
51 CBU-58 800–pound incendiary weapon (27 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
51 CBU-71 incendiary weapon (27 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
30 CBU-87 1,000–pound, Combined Effects Munition (CEM) (6 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
30 CBU-89 1,000–pound Gator Mine (6 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
30 CBU-97 1,000–pound sensorfused antiarmor weapon (6 within the bomb bay, 18 on two underwing pylons)
Note: Not all are carried simultaneously.
Performing a preflight check aboard a B-52H in April 2011 at Minot AFB, in preparation for an eight-hour training mission. USAF photo, Sgt. Andy Kin
The weapons carried by the B-52H Stratofortress are seen here on static display at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana in 2006. Note the rotary launcher with AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles in the center. USAF photo, Sgt. Robert Horstman
The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) was activated in 2009, receiving the nuclear-capable assets of the Air Force Space Command on December 1, 2009, and the nuclear-capable assets of the Air Combat Command on February 1, 2010. USAF
Terry Bott, the deputy chief of the B-52 Weapon System Team in the Air Combat Command’s directorate of requirements, told Sirak that “we think the B-52 is great for this [role]. Not only that, we can also bring in the electronic-warfare capability, and right along with it, a very large load of weapons” to attack the air defenses and targets of opportunity that may emerge.”
The shortfall in jamming capacity existed in the U.S. Air Force arsenal following the retirement of the General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven in 1998. Those who chart the course of how the BUFF outlived younger aircraft will note that the EF-111A was the last variant of the F-111 family, which entered service nearly two decades after the Stratofortress and included the FB-111, which served along side the B-52 in the SAC arsenal for many years.
Under the B-52 Stand-Off Jammer (SOJ) program, work began in 2002 on developing jamming pods for the EB-52H aircraft. Having spoken with Lt. Col. Scott Hardiman, commander of the Airborne Electronic Attack Systems Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, Marc Selinger wrote in Aviation Week in September 2005, “the Air Force has indicated that it hopes to achieve a full operational capability with SOJ in fiscal 2012-FY ‘15.”
However, the SOJ was cancelled in a high-level review later in 2005, only to be revived later, and cancelled again in 2009. The service decided to rely on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and assistance from the U.S. Navy’s EF-18G Growler.
B-52H Selected Electronics Systems
Capt. Jeremiah Baldwin (left), pilot, and Lt. Bentley Brooks, copilot, conduct a preflight check in their 23rd Bombardment Squadron B-52H at Andersen AFB in March 2004. USAF photo, Master Sgt. Val Gempis
AN/AAQ6 FLIR Electrooptical viewing system
AN/ALE20 Infrared flare dispensers (12)
AN/ALE24 Chaff dispensers (6)
AN/ALQ117 Pave Mint active countermeasures set
AN/ALQ122 Motorola false target generator
AN/ALQ153 Northrop Grumman tail warning set
AN/ALQ155 Northrop Grumman jammer Power Management System
AN/ALQ172(V)2 ITT electronic countermeasures system
AN/ALR20A Wideband countermeasures radar warning receiver
AN/ALR46 Litton digital warning receiver
AN/ALT32 Noise jammer
AN/ANS136 Inertial Navigation Set
AN/APN224 Radar Altimeter
AN/APQ156 Strategic Radar
AN/ARC210 VHF/UHF communications
AN/ARC310 HF radio communications
AN/ASN134 Heading Reference
AN/ASQ175 Control Display Set
AN/AVQ22 Lowlight TV Electrooptical viewing system
AN/AYK17 Digital Data Display
AN/AYQ10 Ballistics Computer
During the early twenty-first century, the arsenal carried by the BUFF continued to evolve. Based on the operational experience gained during Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the Air Force sought to upgrade the targeting capability of the JDAM by adding a precision laser terminal guidance seeker to the JDAM kit. The resulting Laser JDAM (LJDAM) kit incorporates a DSU-38/B laser seeker with a Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS) to provide the capability of hitting moving targets. In 2007, Boeing received a contract for 600 LJDAMs, which were originally intended to equip F-15Es and F-16s. They were first demonstrated as part of the arsenal of the B-52H in September 2008.
As noted in Chapter 10, it was also in 2007 that the U.S. Air Force announced plans to phase out its entire inventory of stealthy AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles because of maintenance costs. The older AGM-86B ALCM and AGM-86C CALCM cruise missiles would be retained indefinitely. At that time, the service had 460 AGM-129s, and 1,140 of the older missiles, though the number was gradually being reduced.
In the process of decommissioning the AGM-129s, the Air Force experienced an unexpected incident that altered its history. On the night of August 29, a B-52H took off from Minot AFB carrying six AGM-129s bound for Barksdale AFB for decommissioning. It was a routine flight, one of ma
ny, in which the W80-1 thermonuclear warheads were supposed to have been removed from the missiles—but that night, they had not been. The armed missiles arrived safely, but the fact that the error was not discovered for thirty-six hours, at either base, underscored a serious lapse of oversight.
In this dramatic image, airmen from the 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Minot AFB in North Dakota conduct a fuel enrichment valve test on a B-52H in mid-January as the temperature sits at six below zero, Fahrenheit. Crews were modifying fuel controls for cold-weather engine start-ups. USAF photo, Airman Fallon Shea
A B-52H from the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron over the Pacific Ocean during the RIMPAC exercise in July 2010. USAF photo, Sgt. Jacob Bailey
Capt. Jeff Rogers (left) and Lt. Patrick Applegate in the lower deck of a 5th Bombardment Wing B-52H at Minot AFB in August 2006. USAF photo, Master Sgt. Lance Cheung
A B-52H aircrew assigned to the 96th Bombardment Squadron at Barksdale AFB flies a Red Flag Alaska mission from Eielson AFB on April 29, 2010. USAF photo, Sgt. Christopher Boitz
A B-52H Stratofortress is “intercepted” by two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets as it flies past the USS Nimitz in May 2008. The BUFF was from the 96th Expeditionary Bombardment Squadron deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam. U.S. Navy
“Air Force standards are very exacting when it comes to munitions handling,” spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas said in an official statement. “The weapons were always in our custody and there was never a danger to the American public.”
There was considerable fallout from the incident, but fortunately it was political, not radioactive.
Heads rolled. Beginning with the 5th Bombardment Wing commander at Minot and the 2nd Operations Group commander at Barksdale, more than five dozen Air Force personnel were relieved of command or lost their certification in the personnel reliability program. After a series of investigations by the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Science Board, the top Air Force leadership, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley were asked to resign.
For the Air Force going forward, the biggest change wrought by the incident was that nuclear weapons capability was withdrawn from Air Combat Command, who had managed bombers since 1992, and from Air Force Space Command, which managed ICBMs, and placed in a newly created organization. The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), which became operational on August 7, 2009, had a mission that made it seem a great deal like the Strategic Air Command of old.
In early 2005, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a multiyear contract to upgrade B-52 communications under the Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) program. As Marc Selinger wrote in Aviation Week, the contract called for “integrating new satellite communications and other enhancements into the B-52 to improve its ability to share information with other aircraft and with command centers. . . . The modifications also will enable the bomber to retarget its weapons after it has taken off. The Air Force plans to put all 76 active B-52s through the CONECT program. Up to 18 reserve aircraft may be modified as well.”
Reassigned from Air Combat Command to the Air Force Global Strike Command in February 2010, a B-52H Stratofortress and a B-2A Spirit make a formation flight. USAF
In a July 12, 2005, article, Selinger reported that, as part of the CONECT program, the Air Force planned to “replace old analog displays in the cockpit with new color displays. . . . [and] equip the early-1960s bomber for 21st-century information-sharing and situational awareness.”
The first successful flight of a CONECT-modified B-52H was launched from Edwards AFB on January 17, 2010, and on August 3, 2011, the aircraft’s crew successfully completed an evaluation flight of the CONECT interphone system. According to Scot Oathout, Boeing’s B-52 program director, the system demonstrated that CONECT had given the B-52H “the ability to participate in net-centric operations. This means the aircraft can exchange real-time digital information with other ground-based and airborne assets while on a mission, increasing its effectiveness, survivability and lethality. CONECT keeps the B-52 in the fight.”
And so it goes. The duration of the BUFF’s career long ago surpassed the life span of those who created it and the careers of those who first flew it. It has flown long after the end of the careers of those who first flew it in combat, and it will continue to fly and fight beyond the span of the careers of those who flew it over the mountains of Afghanistan.
It will be nearly halfway through the twenty-first century before any book of the type you now hold can end with a phrase other than “to be continued.”
Appendix 1
Specifications by Stratofortress Model
XB-52 (Boeing Model 464-67)
Length: 152 feet 8 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 155,200 pounds empty; 390,000 pounds gross
Maximum speed: 611 mph at 20,000 feet; 594 mph at 35,000 feet
Cruising speed: 519 mph
Service ceiling: 46,500 feet
Combat radius: 3,535 miles with 10,000 pound bomb load
Ferry range: 7,015 miles
Powerplant:
Eight Pratt & Whitney YJ57-P-3 turbojets (8,700 pounds of thrust each)
YB-52 (Boeing Model 464-67)
Length: 152 feet 8 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 155,200 pounds empty; 405,000 pounds gross
Maximum speed: 611 mph at 20,000 feet; 594 mph at 35,000 feet
Cruising speed: 519 mph
Service ceiling: 46,500 feet
Combat radius: 3,545 miles with 10,000 pound bomb load
Ferry range: 7,015 miles
Powerplant: Eight Pratt & Whitney YJ57-P-3 turbojets (8,700 pounds of thrust each)
B-52A (Boeing Model 464-201-0)
Length: 156 feet 6.9 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 420,000 pounds gross
Armament: Four .50-caliber M3 machine guns with 600 rounds in tail turret
Maximum offensive payload: 43,000 pounds
Service ceiling: 46,500 feet
Combat radius: 3,590 miles
Powerplant: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-1W turbojets (10,000 pounds of thrust dry, and 11,000 pounds of thrust with water injection)
B-52B/RB-52B (Boeing Model 464-201-4/464-201-3)
Length: 156 feet 6.9 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 164,081 pounds empty; 272,000 pounds combat; 420,000 pounds gross
Armament: Two 20mm M24A1 cannons with 400 rounds, or four .50-caliber M3 machine guns with 600 rounds in tail turret
Maximum offensive payload: 43,000 pounds
Maximum speed: 630 mph at 19,800 feet; 598 mph at 35,000 feet; 571 mph at 45,750 feet
Cruising speed: 523 mph
Service ceiling at combat weight 47,300 feet
Combat radius: 3,590 miles with 10,000 pound bomb load
Ferry range: 7,343 miles
Powerplant: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-1W, -1WA, or -1WB turbojets (11,400 pounds of thrust with water injection),
Subsequently: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-29W or -29WA turbojets (10,500 pounds of thrust dry, and 12,100 pounds of thrust with water injection)
Or: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-19W turbojets (10,500 pounds of thrust dry, and 12,100 pounds of thrust with water injection)
B-52C (Boeing Model 464-201-6)
Length: 156 feet 6.9 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 164,486 pounds empty; 293,100 pounds combat; 450,000 pounds gross
Armament: Four .50-caliber M3 machine g
uns with 600 rounds in tail turret.
Maximum offensive payload: 43,000 pounds
Maximum speed: 636 mph at 20,200 feet; 570 mph at 45,000 feet
Cruising speed: 521 mph
Service ceiling at combat weight: 45,800 feet
Combat radius: 3,475 miles with 10,000 pound bomb load
Ferry range: 7,856 miles
Powerplant: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-29WA or -19W turbojets (12,100 pounds of thrust with water injection)
B-52D (Boeing Model 464-201-7)
Length: 156 feet 6.9 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 177,816 pounds empty; 293,100 pounds combat; 450,000 pounds gross.
Armament: Four .50-caliber M3 machine guns with 600 rounds in tail turret.
Maximum offensive payload: 43,000 pounds; 60,000 (including external pylons) after “Big Belly” modifications
Maximum speed: 585 mph at 20,200 feet; 570 mph at 45,000 feet
Cruising speed: 521 mph
Service ceiling: 46,350 feet
Service ceiling at combat weight: 45,800 feet
Combat radius: 3,470 miles with 10,000 pound bomb load
Ferry range: 7,850 miles
Powerplant: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-19W turbojets (12,100 pounds of thrust with water injection)
B-52E (Boeing Model 464-259)
Length: 156 feet 6.9 inches
Wingspan: 185 feet
Tail height: 48 feet 3.6 inches
Wing area: 4,000 square feet
Weight: 174,782 pounds empty; 292,460 pounds combat; 450,000 pounds gross
Armament: Four .50-caliber M3 machine guns with 600 rounds in tail turret
Maximum offensive payload: 43,000 pounds
