Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress has remained in continuous US Air Force service since 1955, and current plans call for it to keep flying past 2050, meaning some B-52s will have served for nearly a century. Its eight engines, mounted in four twin pods beneath a huge swept wing, give it the range and payload to strike targets on the far side of the world without refuelling. Remarkably, today's B-52 crews sometimes fly the very same individual airframes their grandparents flew decades earlier, a rare continuity in military aviation. Continuous engine, avionics, and weapons upgrades have kept an airframe designed in the early Cold War genuinely relevant in modern warfare.
Did you know?
In continuous US Air Force service since 1955, the B-52 is slated to keep flying past 2050 in the very same airframes.
Specifications
| Length | 48.5 m (159 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 56.4 m (185 ft) |
| Height | 12.4 m (41 ft) |
| Persons on board | 6 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 256.7 t |
| Range | 8,800 NM (16,298 km) |
| Maximum speed | 560 kt (1,037 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 50,000 ft (15,240 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 49,000 ft (14,935 m) |
| Rate of climb | 6,270 ft/min (31.9 m/s) |
| Take-off distance | 4,000 m (13,123 ft) |
| Landing distance | 2,000 m (6,562 ft) |
| Fuel capacity | 181,610 l |
| Engines | 8x Pratt & Whitney TF33 |
| Units built | 744 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
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