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U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers will lead fighter jets from Belgium, Germany, and 12 other countries across Europe’s skies on nuclear exercises Monday, amid reports Russia has increased the number of strategic bombers close to its border with NATO-member state Norway. The annual NATO training is going ahead despite rising fears President Vladimir Putin might consider a real nuclear strike in Ukraine.

The B-52 sorties traveled from the United Kingdom to Romania and back. Here's why.. On Friday, March 4, American B-52 bombers flew a patrol from the UK, over Germany to Romania, and back. The bombers stayed within uncontested NATO airspace for the entire route, and the patrol was repeated on Monday, March 7. The sorties were unremarkable in many ways, except this time the flights took place against the shadow of Russia’s war on Ukraine. In light of that war, which the US has adamantly committed to not fighting, what was the most iconic Cold War bomber doing flying over...

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 Boeing B-52H is the vintage bomber that just won’t quit, and now the Cold War-era “Stratofortress” is being outfitted with one of America’s newest and longest-range conventional cruise missiles. Lockheed Martin has been put on contract to arm the 54-year-old aircraft – which has outlived many of those who predicted its retirement – with the extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Weapon (JASSM) under a $9.1 million contract announced earlier this month. In a statement to Flightglobal, LM director of long-range strike systems Jason Denney confirms that the B-52 will be updated to carry the turbofan engine-powered cruise missile internally on...

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.

A USAF B-52 Stratofortress from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana prepares to land at Nellis AFB, Nevada on January 24, 2013 during Red Flag 13-2. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (medium, large, huge) The Photographer Caitlin Kenney, 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, United States Air Force  

Alive and kicking Air Force’s youngest B-52 Stratofortress turns 50 this year The Air Force’s youngest B-52 Stratofortress, Tail No. 1040, will hit a milestone this year, when it turns 50 years old. Of course, “young” is a relative term when you’re a long-range, heavy bomber that was created during the height of the Cold War. Tail No. 1040, the last of 744 B-52s to be manufactured, was delivered to the Air Force, in October 1962. “I don’t think anyone really knew this was going to be the last B-52 ever made,” said Robert Michel, the 5th Bomb Wing historian....

1024 x 949 pixels . . . 3207 x 2972 pixels . . . via http://www.flickr.com/photos/av8pix/5741241509/  

In a flight test reminiscent of the early days of the historic X-15 program 50 years earlier, the X-51A Waverider was carried aloft for the first time over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 9 by an Air Force Flight Test Center B-52H Stratofortress. The "captive carry" test was a key milestone in preparation for the X-51 to light its supersonic combustion ramjet engine and propel the WaverRider at hypersonic speed for about 5 minutes, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean. That flight test is currently planned in about two months, said Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager with the...

Despite interest from the office of the secretary of defense in exploring the possibility of re-engining the B-52 fleet, the Air Force maintains such a project is not a requirement at this point, though improvements to the engines and the overall platform may become necessary as the service seeks to expand the bomber's combat role, according a senior official. In an interview this week with Inside the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Dan Leaf, director of operational requirements, said the service is looking at using the B-52 as an electronic jamming platform. Currently, the Air Force is studying the concept...