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The US Air Force has 140 of its biggest warplanes – its heavy bombers – in active service: 76 Boeing B-52Hs, 44 Boeing B-1Bs and 20 B-2 stealth bombers built by Northrop Grumman. .. Any other air force might content itself with 140 bombers and redistribute the lost bomber’s operating budget. But the US Air Force is counting on the B-1 to play a lead role in a possible air war over the Taiwan Strait. It’s such a high priority that the service is spending millions of dollars recovering, from long-term storage, a surplus B-1 nicknamed “Lancelot” that’s been sitting...

The man behind a hugely embarrassing leak of highly classified military documents is believed to be a young gun enthusiast who shared the secrets in a group for gamers. Known as "OG" in the Discord chatroom, the man allegedly claimed to spend parts of his day inside a secure facility where phones were banned, according to a story published by the Washington Post. He initially typed up versions of highly secret documents and posted them for the group of about 25 active members from various countries to read, but later switched to posting slews of photos of the documents themselves....

On April 15, 1952, the huge YB-52 Stratofortress takes wing from Boeing Field. The plane surpasses anything then flying, with eight engines slung below swept wings measuring 185 feet from tip to tip. It is capable of carrying the largest nuclear devices available and one version is able to carry up to 30 tons of conventional weapons. The plane’s range initially is more than 5,000 miles and development of aerial refueling makes missions of up to 30 hours possible. Between 1954 and 1962, Boeing will manufacture more than 740 B-52s, first in Seattle and then Wichita, and scores of aircraft...

The United States is set to send nuclear-capable B-52 warplanes to bomb ISIS. The warplanes will start attacking terrorist targets in Syria and Iraq in April as they replace B-1s that have returned to the US for updates. It is not clear how many of the mammoth B-52s and airmen will take part in the deployment, that could see the bombers based at an American airbase in Qatar.

TWO B-52 bombers flew 44 hours non-stop from Louisiana to the Northern Territory on a simulated bombing run last month — all to deliver a message to China. The lumbering, 1950s vintage dinosaurs lifted off from the Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, United States, on July 1. Their mission: to be BAAD. That’s military speak for yet more military speak: “bomber assurance and deterrence”. Translated, it means sending a message to Australia and the nations of South East Asia that the United States is willing and capable of assisting its allies. It was also a demonstration — to China...

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It was at the vanguard of aviation technology in the 1950s, and it's still going strong today: meet the B-52 Stratofortress.The B-52 heavy bomber continues to show that old doesn't have to mean outdated, even in an era of rapid technological change. Just the opposite: through good maintenance and occasional updates, vintage tech can hold its own against flashier but more expensive, and more finicky, next-generation (and next-next-next-generation, even) designs. The very first flight of a Boeing B-52 took place 60 years ago this weekend.

The Air Force is working to get a B-52 bomber back into service after it sat collecting dust for seven years at the famous Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. On Feb. 13, the B-52H—with the serial number 61–0007—left the desert for its new home with the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. This is the first time the Air Force has “regenerated” one of these bombers from the Boneyard back to active duty.

If and when the U.S. attack on Syria takes place, it will be different in some ways from any previous intervention. But it will have one thing in common with every war the United States has fought in the past 50 years: B-52s will be available for the fight. This bomber is the combat aircraft that will not die. In 1977, when Congress was debating whether to build a replacement called the B-1, the complaint was that the B-52 was older than the pilots flying it. This fact was supposed to capture its obsolete character and sagging decrepitude. The...

On a Friday in 1948, six aeronautical designers from the Boeing Company holed up in a hotel suite in Dayton, Ohio. They stayed put until Monday morning, except for the one who left to visit a hobby shop and returned with balsa wood, glue, carving tools and silver paint. The group emerged with a neatly bound 33-page proposal and an impressive 14-inch scale model of an airplane on a stand. Col. Pete Warden, the Air Force chief of bomber development, studied the result and pronounced, “This is the B-52.”

The B-52 entered into service in 1955 and was referred as one of the most powerful bombers. While that was true when the war plane first hit the skies, nearly 55 years later, it’s still true. Partly due to the testing B-52 Radar Navigator Christopher Rudd does at Edwards Air Force Base. “We’re an independent organization that plans, executes, analyzes, the new systems that’s coming on board for in this case the B-52,” said Rudd. From testing new software to new weaponry, they do it all to make sure despite its age, the B-52 is still top notch. “We are...

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...

Boeing announced that a B-52H upgraded with new communication technology successfully accomplished its first test flight at Edwards Air Force Base on Jan. 17. The Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) upgrade allows B-52H crews to receive and send real-time digital information during their missions. The more than three-hour flight around the Edwards area included an initial system build-up test, interphone test and communication test. The test process included power-on of each system in flight to determine that there were no adverse effects on flight-essential systems.

For the second time in less than a year, the U.S. Air Force has relieved the commander of a combat wing. This time it was the 5th Bomb Wing, a B-52 outfit. Previously, the commander of one of the three Minuteman ICBM wings was relieved. The three missile wings control 450 American Minuteman III ICBMs. In this case, two other senior officers were also relieved (one of them the guy in charge of the Wing Maintenance Squadron.) In both cases, the reason was "loss of confidence in his ability to command". That's milspeak for "too many little things have gone...

The B-52 aircraft deployed as part of the U.S. Air Force fleet are to be equipped with secure Extremely High Frequency Communication Systems to enable them to remain in contact with other elements of the military in space, in the air and on the ground. The revolutionary EHF has been found to be more reliable and less susceptible to atmospheric conditions than other frequencies. The Boeing Co. said Tuesday it received a $5.4 million initial contract to begin work on developing technologies required to integrate the new EHF satellite communication system on the U.S. Air Force B-52 fleet. No timeline...

Minot Air Force Base is preparing to activate a new B-52 bomber squadron that will send 10 more B-52s to the North Dakota base. The new unit will be the fourth B-52 squadron in the Air Force. Minot base already has one squadron and Barksdale Air Force Base has the other two B-52 units. The Air Force has not said whether the planes will be transferred from Barksdale or taken from backup aircraft. Air Force officials say adding the new squadron at Minot is part of plans to put a stronger emphasis on nuclear mission training for B-52 units.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Joshua Wortley, 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, replaces a B-52 generator. Wortley is deployed from Barksdale AFB, La., in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer Air Force Crew Keeps Aging B-52s Airborne U.S. airmen assigned to the 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron keep the aging B-52s airborne, a task vital to the success of Operation Enduring Freedom. By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, May 3, 2006 — Thirty thousand feet above Afghan terrain, the U.S. Air Force B-52’s...

OAKLAND - Most carpenters work in coveralls or at least pants and a shirt. Police say Percy Honniball prefers to do his work in his birthday suit. ``It's more comfortable,'' said Honniball in a phone interview Thursday. ``The primary reason is so I (won't) dirty my clothes and have to get into my truck with dusty clothes on.'' But not everyone is tolerant of nude carpenters. A Montclair homeowner called police when he arrived home early and found the worker buck naked. ``He got upset and he said `You have to leave,' '' Honniball said of the incident last October....

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...

Air Force Slates F-117 And B-52 For Cuts F-22 Raptors The Air Force wants to retire the entire F-117 stealth fighter fleet by 2008 and cut the fleet of B-52 bombers in half, but increase the buy of its cherished F-22 fighter from 179 to 183 aircraft. Program Budget Decision 720, the "Air Force Transformation Flight Plan," outlines the service's plan to save more than $21 billion between 2007 and 2011 and direct that money into programs that make the Air Force a "more lethal, more agile, streamlined force with an increased emphasis on the warfighter."