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The Russian Air Force scrambled three fighter jets to escort a U.S. Air Force bomber away from Russian airspace Sunday at an undisclosed location over the Pacific Ocean, Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency reported. “[A]ir defense radars on duty in the Eastern Military Region on Sunday spotted an air target over the Pacific Ocean that was approaching Russia’s airspace,” Russia’s National Defense Command Center told Russian media on September 26. “In order to identify and escort the foreign plane, three Sukhoi-35S fighter planes of the Eastern Military Region’s air defense were scrambled,” the command center said in a statement to...

At some point in the next few weeks, a B-52H bomber will carry a missile high into the air and launch it at an unprecedented velocity toward its target, according to the U.S. Air Force. If everything goes according to plan, that missile will accelerate to more than five times the speed of sound before deploying a dummy second stage that will promptly "disintegrate" somewhere in the atmosphere. The missile, known as AGM-183A, is supposed to be the first hypersonic weapon — or Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) — in the U.S. arsenal. It should move so quickly through the...

In threat to Iran, US sends heavy B-52H Stratofortress Bombers to Middle East via Israel FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL: In a highly irregular move, the B-52H Stratofortress planes were seen flying toward Israeli airspace on Saturday en route to the base where they will be stationed, likely in Qatar. The aircraft were spotted on civilian tracking software approaching Israel before they apparently turned off their transponders, rendering them invisible on those applications. It was the third time in the past year and a half that B-52 bombers, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and other powerful munitions, have been...

America’s fleet of B-52H Stratofortress nuclear bombers are on track to outlast their engines, and the planes need new ones to remain viable past 2030. The U.S. Air Force, which received its first B-52H during the Kennedy administration, wants to replace existing engines with cheaper, more power ones to keep the lumbering jets flying into all the way into the 2040s.

The US Air Force is moving forward with a major new upgrade for the half-century-old Boeing B-52H fleet, focused on replacing the bomber's radar, which is roughly 30 years old. The Northrop Grumman APQ-166 strategic radar is nearing the end of its useful life and will be replaced on 76 B-52Hs, the USAF says in a request for information issued to industry. The new system will perform all of the mission functions now performed by the APQ-166 mechanically scanned array, but provide "new and enhanced capabilities", the air force says. Although active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology is now available...

U.S. Air Force Maj. Andrea Jensen, 40th Expeditionary Group B-52 pilot, performs pre-flight checks in a B-52 Stratofortress. Jensen has accumulated 100 combat flying hours providing close air support for troops on the ground in Afghanistan in the B-52. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer U.S. Air Force Maj. Andrea Jensen B-52 Pilot Shares Experience, Contributions By Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, March 20, 2006 — She follows Air Force history – through her family’s footsteps. Her dad, and his brother and sisters grew up in an...

St. Louis, August 29, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] and BAE Systems have combined their B-52 and electronic warfare expertise to offer the U.S. Air Force a highly qualified team to execute the B-52 Stand-Off Jammer (SOJ) program. "It takes a highly experienced electronic warfare integrator, along with the B-52 platform expert to deliver the maximum benefits of an effects-based, electronic attack capability," said Pat Finneran, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Logistics Support Systems. "The Boeing/BAE Systems team provides both. We have the vision and capability to deliver multi-platform electronic combat battle management for the Air Force's Airborne...

The Defense Department is paying Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Wichita more than $224 million for upgrades to the B-52H bomber and the E-4B, a military version of the 747. Wichita engineers will design and develop tactical datalink systems that will improve the B-52's ability to communicate with other air and ground units. The improvements will allow the B-52 to change its intended target and reprogram weapons while en route, says Tom LaRock, Boeing IDS spokesman, something that the bomber has not been able to do in the past. The design and development contract is worth $216.7 million. Eventually, LaRock...