Difference between revisions of "B-52 Stratofortress"

Revision as of 15:18, July 12, 2007

The B-52 Stratofortress is the primary manned strategic bomber used by the United States Airforce. This long range heavy bomber has capabilities enable it to drop nuclear as well as conventional bombs^[1]. The bomber is specifically designed to conduct strategic attacks, air interdictions, maritime and offensive counter-air operations. The B-52 can also fly at high subsonic speeds at 50,000 feet. The bomber has been used in United States missions in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. There are currently 85 active B-52 bombers^[2]. Engineering analyses show the B-52's life span to extend beyond the year 2040.^[3]

History

1946-1952

Now in its fifth decade of operation, the B-52 Stratofortress, origins go back to World War Two. In 1946, the allies assuming that the war was going to continue longer in the specific and that Hitler would launch an assault on Britten looked for a plane with more effective range and capabilities. The specific specifications they looked for in a new bomber which had the ability of operating in a radius of 5000 mile, and could fly at 300 mph at 34,000 feet. Bowing Company received a contract from the military to build the new plane. The bomber, Convair B-36, was not ready in till after the war and soon its capabilities proved useless against new technology. Bowing tried to improve the plan but their efforts failed, as the plane still was not much improvement over the B-36. The design for what can to be known as the B-52 was made in by engineering staff and military experts in Settle, here they locked themselves into a Dayton hotels room were they crated a prototype of the B-52.

1952-2007

This prototype led to the XB-52, the first model of the B-52 which rolled out in 1951. The first model of the plane was created by Bowing Company, and flew in 1954, the second B-52B model entered in 1962. This model added two large wing tanks and a new avionic bomb system which proved to be a significant update from its predecessor^[4]. Although these plans were modified, bowing built the B-52 H, the first of which was delivered in May of 1961. This new model replaced the machine guns used and incorporated more advanced avionics which permitted lower, more precise terrain –hugging perpetration. The H continued to be produced in till May of 1961, bringing the total number of B-52H to 742. The B-52H is the only model B-52 used by the military today. On January 10-11, 1962, a B-52H set a new distance record flying an unrefueled 12,532.28 mile flight form Okinawa to Spain. Over the years the B-2 The B-52H became a major component of the Airforce, later working along side the stealth B-2 Spirit and the Airforce Rockwell B-1B. Because of the B-52H ability to use nuclear weapons, the B-52 served as a deterrent during the cold war, even though it was never used. During the Vietnam War, the B-52 was used to carpet bomb enemy bases. The B-52 next major use was in Operation Desert Storm; here the planes dropped over 27, 000 tons of bombs^[5]. In 1999, the B-52 served United States and NATO mission to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The B-52, which dropped twenty-nine percent of all U.S. bombs dropped and thirty-eight percent of all Air Force bombs during the war, dropped Cluster Bombs that paralyzed enemy airfields^[6]. In response to the attacks on the United States on September 11th 2001, The B-52 was used in Operation Enduring Freedom, to bomb Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, and in Iraq as part of the United States, “shock and awe” campaign^[7].

Facts:

B-52 Information^[8]

External Links

• The Stratofortress Association
• Military Fact Sheet

References

1. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-52-describe.htm
2. ↑ http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=83
3. ↑ http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=83
4. ↑ http://www.stratofortress.org/history.htm
5. ↑ http://www.stratofortress.org/history.htm
6. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-52-ops.htm
7. ↑ http://www.stratofortress.org/history.htm
8. ↑ http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/affacts/blb-52stratofortress.htm