B-52 Stratofortress

The B-52 Stratofortress entered service in 1955 and remains the U.S. Air Force's long-range, high-altitude, subsonic, heavy-payload strategic bomber. Current B-52H aircraft are receiving commercial Rolls-Royce F130 engines, new AESA radar, and modernized communications as part of the B-52J upgrade program.

The B-52 is unique among U.S. bombers in carrying the full breadth of air-launched weapons — nuclear bombs, AGM-86 ALCM, AGM-183 ARRW, and future hypersonic weapons — and is scheduled to remain in service into the 2050s, approaching a century of flight.

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