The B-52 Stratofortress, a cornerstone of the U.S. Air Force's strategic bomber fleet since its first flight over seven decades ago, defies the aging process through successive upgrades.
The B-52 survived where other bombers failed because it could continue to fulfill a very special set of roles in the Missile Age, including long-range low-altitude penetration strategic bomber, heavy conventional bomber, and more generally flexible large long-range weapons-carrying platform. None of the replacements of the B-52 would have performed these duties nearly as
The United States Air Force's B-52 Stratofortress continues to serve as the backbone of the bomber fleet but new upgrades won't be as easy to installs as first thought.
A total of 1,737 U.S. fixed-wing aircraft were lost in combat during the Vietnam War, including 40 percent of the total production of F-105 Thunderchiefs and one out of every eight F-4 Phantoms ever made.