While the B-21 Raider’s specs have been shrouded in secrecy, the Air Force has released graphic renderings.
Q
A B-52 recently lost an engine during a training flight, and you once wrote that “our sons and daughters deserve better tools to fight the nation’s wars.” Do you fear more mishaps are pos- sible as this aircraft continues to age? A: That’s true with any aging system. Our youngest B-52 is over 50 years old. That’s incredible. I used to think ships that were 50 years old were re- ally ancient, much less aircraft. When it comes to aging, you just
don’t know [which component] is going to reach its failure mode. It could be structural or electronic — you don’t know what could happen next. We never anticipated that we would be building airplanes that would last for 50 years.
Q
What can airmen do to mitigate those risks? A: The primary area of concern is structure. Air Force structural engi- neers ensure aircraft are strengthened so they don’t break. But it’s not just about structure, it’s about the guts too. After a period of time, aircraft are
taken to maintenance depots and are stripped down and rebuilt. We’ll continue to do that. It’s economi- cally viable to do so. But you have to build new aircraft so you’re able to survive advanced air defenses that are out there that the B-52 can no longer fly against.
IMAGE: USAF
Q
Now the B-21 Raider is on deck. What are you hearing about this new aircraft that makes you excited about what the Air Force will be able to ac- complish with it? A: We have to stop thinking about new aircraft as if they’re newer ver- sions of old aircraft because with the advancement in the information- age capabilities, the B-21 is not just going to be a bomber. It’s more accurately characterized as a long- range, sensor-shooter aircraft. It will carry comput-
ers with processing capability that weren’t even in existence when the B-52 was designed. It will have sen- sors on board that will allow it to detect and act autonomously when penetrating contested airspace, and then the networking onboard to be able to share this information with other elements, whether [to] the airborne force or up to satellites where that information can be shared with our decision makers in a way that we’ve never done be- fore. It’s really taking us into a new era of airborne systems.
www.moaa.org/deptula to read the interview in its entirety.
QA & Visit
— Gina Harkins is MOAA’s senior staff writer. She can be reached at
ginah@moaa.org.
shortened by 8 feet. Instead of internal bladders, the wings were sealed to create a “wet wing” that could hold an additional 10,000 gallons of fuel. Ailerons were elimi- nated in favor of spoilers, and the plane was upgraded to carry mis- siles as well as bombs. When the fi rst B-52G took to the air in 1959, its successor — the B-52H — already was on the draw- ing boards. It would be the last iteration of the BUFF and the only model still fl ying today. The biggest change was replacing the J-57 tur- bojet engines with the TF-33 fanjet, which saved fuel and lowered the plane’s noise level while increasing thrust. New avionics were installed to allow safer and more precise low-level fl ight, the airframe was strengthened, and the machine guns in the tail were replaced with a Vulcan Gatling gun. The fi nal B-52H, tail number
61-040, was delivered to the Air Force Oct. 26, 1962, from the Boe- ing plant in Wichita, Kan. By then, more than 10,000 ser- vicemembers were engaged in what then was termed a counterinsurgency operation in Vietnam. The BUFF soon would join them and, for bet- ter or for worse, become the best-known military symbol of
the war. From 1965 until 1973, in an ongoing mission called Arc Light, B-52s fl ew 126,615 combat sorties over North Vietnam and other points in Southeast Asia, dropping some 4 million tons of bombs. At fi rst, the targets were mostly
enemy supply lines in the jungle. With a service ceiling of 50,000 feet, the fi rst inkling enemy sol- diers had of a B-52’s presence was when explosions began. “That was carpet bombing, which we don’t do anymore,” notes Air Force his- torian Yancy Mailes. “The B-52 is [CONTINUES ON PAGE 77]
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