During the late-1950s, while engineers tried to figure out how to make a heavy bomber fast enough for LeMay, SAC had more immediate needs--replacing the early model BUFFs--and embarked on the development of the 'Improved B-52'
(what became the B-52G/H).
It had become obvious that a Mach 3 bomber would not be available before 1965, so the Air Force expected the Improved B-52 to stay in service until 1970.
As it turned out, they only missed by half a century.
Of course, the Mach 3 bomber did come.
North American engineers applied some engineering voodoo to an exotic stainless-steel honeycomb airframe and created the B-70 Valkyrie.
This incredible delta-wing airplane largely satisfied the requirements for speed and range laid down by LeMay.
However, politics eliminated any hope of a production program and the B-70 dwindled to only two prototypes intended as much to provide data for the American Supersonic Transport Program as to worry the Soviet Union.
In the meantime, however, workable Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) had been developed, and the concept of the manned bomber was declared obsolete, replaced by ICBMs named:
Atlas,
Titan,
and Minuteman.
The B-70 proved it was possible for a half-million-pound airplane to fly at sustained speeds of Mach 3 at 70,000 ft., but by the time it did, nobody really cared.
The B-52, however, soldiered on.
The Mission
The B-52 was designed for a singular purpose--high altitude nuclear strike against the Soviet Union.
Like all American bombers of the era, it had a limited ability to wage conventional war, but this was not a primary design motivation.
Unfortunately, by the time the B-52 was entering service, it was becoming obvious that surface-to-air missiles would soon make high-altitude penetration of enemy airspace difficult, a fear graphically demonstrated on May 1, 1960 when a Lockheed U-2 flown by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk.
Since the missiles had denied the stratosphere to the bombers, SAC switched to low-altitude penetration to minimize the chance of being detected by radar.
The problem was that the early model B-52s were not designed to withstand the punishment of high-speed low-level flight, and soon developed structural problems.
This was largely solved by the B-52E, which came from the factory with structural improvements intended to survive the new tactics.
Many of the earlier B-52Ds were then modified to much the same standard.
Other D-models, however, were tasked with fighting a different type of war, one its designers had never foreseen.
Most of the bombers developed after World War II had not seen combat--the B-36, B-45, B-47, and B-50 never dropped a bomb in anger, tacit testimony to their high deterrence value.
For almost a decade, it seemed as if the B-52 might be as lucky.
Unfortunately, by 1965 it was becoming obvious that a heavy bomber was needed in the war-torn skies over Southeast Asia.
Initially, some B-52Fs were used since these airplanes had been modified in early-1964 to carry additional conventional bombs on external wing pylons (resulting in 27 bombs internally and 24 on the wing racks).
However, SAC was not enthusiastic about committing the F-models to a limited conflict since they were structurally capable of the low-level nuclear deterrence mission.
At the time, most of the B-52Ds were not, and they became the primary conventional bomber over Southeast Asia.
A special 'Big Belly' modification increased the capacity of the bomb bay from 27 iron bombs to 84, and a further 24 could be carried on modified wing pylons, much like the F-models.
Oddly, the B-52Gs that would participate later in the conflict did not have either modification, and were limited to carrying 27 bombs in the bomb bay--hardly worth the risk of flights over the most heavily defended airspace on the planet.
These defenses were, in many ways, similar to what would have been encountered during attacks on the Soviet Union--SA-2 surface-to-air missiles and MiG-21 fighter/interceptors.
The defenders and the B-52s each took a toll on the other, and nobody escaped unscathed.
From mid-1965 onward, the B-52 would lead a somewhat schizophrenic existence.
Some airplanes would be optimized for low-level nuclear strike while others would be equipped to drop conventional ordnance.
All airplanes could do either mission, although not with the complete inventory of weapons.
For the next 30 years, the ordnance available to the BUFF continued to become more diverse, and soon encompassed weapons that had not even been dreamed of by its original designers.
First came the GAM-77 (AGM-28) Hound Dog cruise missile on most models, then the stillborn GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile intended as the primary armament of the B-52H.
Smaller AGM-69 short-range attack missiles (SRAM) would allow the G and H-models to take out a dozen or more targets during a single mission, followed by much more sophisticated AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM).
When the ALCM capability was added to 98 B-52Gs, the aircraft received a distinctive leading edge root fairing that allowed them to be identified as "cruise missile carriers" by Soviet satellites as required under the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II).
The H-models did not receive the fairing since it was felt that the TF33 engine nacelles were distinctive enough to allow their identification.
Toward the end of its career, AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and mines allowed the G-models to perform in a maritime patrol role.
Earlier strategic bombers seldom served for more than a decade before they were retired from active service.
The early-model B-52s fared somewhat better, with the first B-52Cs and Es being retired during 1970 and the F-models following by 1978.
Because of their conventional weapons capability, some D-models remained in service until 1983.
It should be noted that despite the conventional munitions modifications--and ugly green and black camouflage scheme--the D-models were still fully capable of performing nuclear strikes and continued to stand alert until their retirement.
The G-model soldiered on, mostly as cruise-missile carriers and maritime patrol aircraft until the final aircraft was retired in 1994.
By the end of the 20th century, the B-52 should have been a distant memory except in museums.
In fact, by the year 2000, almost 50 years after the type's first flight, a few B-52s had been displayed in museums for more than 30 years, while others were still standing nuclear alert.
Of the 742 airplanes originally built, only 96 H-models remained in service; 15 had been lost in combat, at least 35 were in museums, and the rest had been either lost in accidents or scrapped.
The remaining BUFFs were being transformed to carry a new generation of smart weapons.
The 21st Century
By the mid-1980s, the Air Force was intending to use the B-52G for conventional and maritime missions, with the B-52H performing the nuclear standoff role using cruise missiles.
However, the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) severely restricted the number of cruise-missile capable aircraft on each side, and the B-52Gs were soon retired in strict compliance with the new edict.
Beginning in 1994, the Conventional Enhancement Modification program provided the B-52H with an improved conventional warfare capability that included Harpoon anti-ship missiles and other weapons that had been fitted to the B-52Gs.
Later, the H-models were upgraded with Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation along with a Mil-Std-1760 data bus to prepare for a new generation of weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), and Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD).
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