Will the B-52 bomber live forever?

[Dennis The B]

While we have fewer manned bombers, we've also gained in technology advances, making the need for "carpet" bombing useless. The additions to the conventional arsenal include:

• JDAM - Converts conventional iron bombs into precision bombs.
• Laser-guided bombs. More expensive, but requires less bomb to get the job done.
• Cruise missiles. Multiple launch platforms (bombers, surface ships, submarines). Again, much more precise.

Smaller aircraft (F15, F16, F/A18, F22) also handle smarter munitions. Less weight needed to deliver an accurate payload.

Drones also make the job easier. Why risk four or five lives in a B52, when a drone can be piloted from thousands of miles away?

There are also the attack helicopters. Low-level support of infantry and armor.

Don't forget also, that ground munitions are also smarter. GPS systems make artillery much more accurate.

Ground-to-ground missiles are also much smarter.

We get more bang for the buck, today.

I love the BUFFs, but their days may be numbered out of sheer technology advances.

 

[Mcwsky09]

No don't back up!

Semi-related, there's an effort underway to replicate & improve upon the Rockwell F1 boosters used on the Saturn V moon rockets - - the most powerful engines ever built.

Even with full plans, much of the assembly process is a mystery today, as many of the builders are long gone, and improvements and frank improvisations were made in running changes sometimes carried by word of mouth.

The ongoing story of the reverse engineering being done to first fully understand the incredible success of these engines, before fully developing their replacements for the future NASA missions, makes for some amazing reading. All over the web, a Google away.

One of the better writeups:
How NASA brought the monstrous F-1 ?moon rocket? engine back to life | Ars Technica

Don't recall if it was a TV show or magazine article - but I saw a story about that a couple years ago I think - where they brought one back to life in order to study it and are taking another one apart to figure out how it works - and as part of the process they are using modern fabrication techniques to reduce the number of parts and the cost to manufacture. 50 years ago you might have had a pipe with 50 angled sections that were all expertly welded together and had to be perfect and took a man a week to complete but with modern CNC techniques you can make the entire pipe from a single piece of material in a day - with less material used - less waste - and seamless so far less likely to fail.

Related to that is the increased use of additive manufacturing techniques - think 3D printing - allows you to engineer and build a structural component in a way that would not be possible use old school machine shop techniques. Meaning you can make struts thinner or include voids to make a material lighter without sacrificing strength. A good example of this is where parts were made by pouring liquid metal into a mold - there are limitations on what you can do to get the metal to fill all the spaces in the mold and still be able to remove the mold for example that put constraints on the item being produced - constraints that do not apply using techniques not available 50 or even 20 years ago.

 

[safearm]

I don't think their days are that numbered, the last estimate I heard before I retired was 2040! The B-52 has the advantage of space. While it's not exactly spacious inside, there's a lot of room in the frame to add more equipment. That's how the upgrades have allowed the B-52 to keeping flying when other aircraft of its era have been longer retired (the same can be said about the Russian Bear bomber).
With the JDAM and LGB upgrades (including in-flight retargeting options), as well as GPS and communication upgrades, ole BUFF is still a very capable machine. It also has the ability to loiter for a very long time, with a very heavy weapons load, particularly in low threat environments.
When you're dropping from 30,000 feet, the bad guys never see or hear you, all they know is that their world is exploding around them. Even dumb bombs, like we used in Desert Storm, were very effective when used this way.
I'm proud to say that I flew the BUFF.

 

[LVSteve]

The B-52 guys claim that when the last B-1B is flown to Davis-Monthan its crew will have to get a ride home in Buff.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

In the 70's I wrote computerized security systems. One of my projects was to write a system for Boeing at Wichita, KS. The software monitored badge readers and sensors on doors and tracked who when where and when.

The facility produced Cruise Missiles that were mounted on the wings of B-52's. While at the location I saw a B-52 with weights on its wings that made them touch the ground. I assume that this was to test the strength of the wings to carry a load. One day, I was outside of the location, 3 B-52's flew over a couple hundred off of the ground. I felt the vibration of the noise that they produced, something that I will never forget.

 

[rojodiablo]

Back in the late 80s I was in San Diego at the Fleet Intelligence Training Center-Pacific for a couple of Navy schools [and it was when I still ran (who doesn't run when they test you every 6 to 12 months?)] and I found myself jogging on the track that was on the Naval Education and Training Center base (I think it had a different name back then) when I heard an incredible sound behind me. It was a whining, screaming roar (I don't know how else to describe it) that I had never heard before. I knew it was an aircraft so I turned around to look. Most impressive plane I had ever seen was taking off over my head from whatever USAF base was also located nearby.

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!! It's a B-52!!!!

What a great sight that was.

As long as they keep them updated, and the gears oiled and the screws tightened, they should last a very long time!

Go Air Force!

***GRJ***

Mark my words: In the year 2040, there will be more flight ready B52's in service than F35 Lightning and F22 Raptors.

Just sayin'........................................

B-52. Undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

 

[Donn]

The fleet's being upgraded again. It's safe to say the BUFF will last longer than a lot of us.

 

[BigBoy99]

Here in 2013, we have 76 50 year old B-52's, 66 B-1's and 20 B-2's.

But isn't it great way to pay for the 47% of the population on welfare!

 

[kalei]

Between 1958 and 1964 I worked a F, G and H models Fire Control systems ( A3A, MD9 and G21, Great planes, super people (both crews and ground support).

 

[45Wheelgun]

I am a BUFF Baby. Born in 1961 at the (at that time) Top Secret Glasgow MT AFB. My dad had over 2000 hours in BUFFs before he moved on to the F-111 project.

In the picture below you can still see the Top Secret "Christmas Tree" runway where my dad stayed in underground bunkers while on alert. The Christmas Tree configuration allowed them to launch B52's at a rate faster than 1/minute.

The road to the north of the runway was technically closed, off limits and classified, but they would allow the wives to drive up it and park to watch the planes take off and land. Great vantage point.

I grew up moving around the country from B52 base to B52 base. Watching a squadron of them scramble is one of the most amazing sights to see and hear. Something that as a child I watched until it just seemed like a normal everyday event. The roar of those planes, the shaking of the house - at some point we began to ignore it similar to living by rail road tracks.

A fantastic plane that still gives me shivers when I see one take off.

 

[Gischileu]

One of the jokes that was running around when I was still in the Air Force was this:

When the last B-2 bomber is delivered to the Air Force boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, it's crew will be picked up by a another - flying a B-52.

The last I read in Air Force magazine, USAF plans to continue flying the BUFF until 2040, at which point the newest BUFF in the inventory would be 78 years old!

 

[Hack]

Just watched the ultimate B-52 bomber movie last night:

Dr. Strangelove

How can you dis Slim Pickens riding THE bomb???

Major Kong Rides the Bomb - YouTube

Love the 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' instrumental.