https://www.twz.com/air/usaf-is-going-to-explore-what-will-finally-replace-the-b-52

No, not the rock group. The airplanes. They're currently slated to continue flying until 2050 and Air Force is looking for a replacement. In 2050, the newest ones will be 88.

Quote:

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The Air Force is asking for $1 million in its budget request for the 2027 Fiscal Year to conduct a New Heavy Bomber Analysis of Alternatives (AoA). Aviation Week was the first to report on the appearance of this AoA in the service's budget documents. All branches of the U.S. military routinely use the AoA process to assess available options and further refine requirements for new weapon systems and other capabilities.

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The article doesn't really say but one would think our fly boys are discussing unmanned bombers, or ones that could operate sans pilot like a drone if needed. No real reason to risk pilot and crew if we don't have to. Full service flying, if you please.

Why do they even need money for an analysis? Just ask the primes to fund the study and let's skip the public spend.

On a serious note, I thought they already had a program in place to replace the engines with something modern. They looked at going with four bigger engines, but stayed with eight.

I could see this.

But it seems to me that fighters will be the first to go unmanned.

I know they've had massive upgrades, but it's really impressive that something that will be almost a hundred years old in the 2040's will not only be still flying, but still in service.

torrid said:

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On a serious note, I thought they already had a program in place to replace the engines with something modern. They looked at going with four bigger engines, but stayed with eight.

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Yes, replacing the engines with the F130 (Rolls-Royce BR700) along with upgrading the radar and avionics.

Going to 4 would have required a lot more modifications to the airframe and thus a lot more cost than going with 8.

Smittyfubar said:

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I know they've had massive upgrades, but it's really impressive that something that will be almost a hundred years old in the 2040's will not only be still flying, but still in service.

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Got our money's worth out of it.

dmart90 said:

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My '61 Impala is running just fine. And it doesn't have a dedicated crew of mechanics taking care of it. Just sayin'.

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Did you or a family member buy it new? Or was it used?

dmart90 said:

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My '61 Impala is running just fine. And it doesn't have a dedicated crew of mechanics taking care of it. Just sayin'.

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Can it drop nukes?

Correct. Issue was/is lateral control with one engine out as a quad. Fun fact, B-52's cork screw their gear in heavy wind conditions to literally land 'crooked.'

B-52's have endured because much of the plane is unpressurized outside of the crew compartment (thus low cycle metal fatigue issues). The basic planform was laid out over a weekend in a hotel in Ohio in 1948. They have changed but the rugged engineering behind the underlying 'chassis' has not. I don't think we'll see a pure replacement, unfortunately, but maybe a family of manned/unmanned aircraft for similar ordinance.

Mega Lops said:

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Courtesy of Rocky the other day:

techno-ag said:

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Mega Lops said:

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Courtesy of Rocky the other day:

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tin roof rusted?

dmart90 said:

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My '61 Impala is running just fine. And it doesn't have a dedicated crew of mechanics taking care of it. Just sayin'.

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And since it's an old car and can't be traced, you could probably commit a murder and get away with it. I'm just kidding, but when you watch some of these dateline type shows, you realize how much they can catch people on tracking their cars, let alone their phones.

Yup.

When i was a kid, I loved watching the B-52's fly over at about 300 to 600 feet agl.

I don't know how many were in the flight, but there would be about a one or two minute gap until the next.

It always brightened up my day out n the tractor to see them coming along. Sometimes I didn't even see them until the shadow passed over me and I looked up.

FWIW, the nearest SAC base was about 100 miles away.

dmart90 said:

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My '61 Impala is running just fine. And it doesn't have a dedicated crew of mechanics taking care of it. Just sayin'.

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283 V8 or straight 6?

dmart90 said:

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My '61 Impala is running just fine. And it doesn't have a dedicated crew of mechanics taking care of it. Just sayin'.

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Numbers matching first gen camaro here... only my dumbass working on it for the last 20 years (and my father before me).

Things were so much better before planned obsolescence.

Flight of the Old Dog

The American people got their money's worth on the B-52. Maybe the best govt investment ever.

They were movie stars.

The venerable B-52H has received/is receiving so many major upgrades it will be redesignated the B-52J.

New glass cockpit, modern comms and EW, digitalized bomb-bay, new AESA radar, modern engines and an APU.

Soon, not much will be original other than the airframe.

Alongside the stealthy stand-in B-21, the B-52 will remain USAF's heavyweight stand-off bomb truck for decades to come.

B-52J

torrid said:

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torrid said:

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I figure those in the rock group are all over 70.

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Cindy Wilson is 69, Kate Pierson is 78. Being the eternal adolescent, I'm choosing to remember Kate circa 1990.

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Here ya go. Kate Pierson, 1990, Age 42

nortex97 said:

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Correct. Issue was/is lateral control with one engine out as a quad. Fun fact, B-52's cork screw their gear in heavy wind conditions to literally land 'crooked.'

B-52's have endured because much of the plane is unpressurized outside of the crew compartment (thus low cycle metal fatigue issues). The basic planform was laid out over a weekend in a hotel in Ohio in 1948. They have changed but the rugged engineering behind the underlying 'chassis' has not. I don't think we'll see a pure replacement, unfortunately, but maybe a family of manned/unmanned aircraft for similar ordinance.

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The amount of "flex" in the wings is incredible. Dad recalled being in a thunderstorm and looking out his window to see the wingtips above him one minute, and below him another.

torrid said:

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I figure those in the rock group are all over 70.

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Not as old as the BC-52's

The B52 is, dollar for dollar, the most effective and efficient piece of military weaponry produced since the Revolution. They'd be replaced if we could find a way to replicate their impact. So far, we haven't come up with a better mousetrap. Maybe it is as perfect as can be done at this particular job?

Sid Farkas said:

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The American people got their money's worth on the B-52. Maybe the best govt investment ever.

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The M-2 machine gun says hi!