The B-52 is celebrating a big birthday this year — 60 — but unlike humans who feel the aches and pains of aging, the aircraft remains a premiere bombing machine that is expected to continue giving bad guys a real bad day through the 2040s, thanks to yet another upgrade.Going forward, the B-52 will get an upgrade to its bomb bay allowing it to carry 40 percent more precision-guided bombs and new radar that can go more than 1,000 hours before it needs to be repaired, versus the current radar, which needs to be worked on after 30 to 50 hours, Global Strike Command officials said. The upgrades will also allow smart bombs to receive new targets while the bomber is in flight — a critical capability given the U.S. military’s focus on the Pacific region, which requires planes to travel long distances, said Jim Noetzel of Global Strike Command’s bomber requirements division.
In fiscal 2012, the mission-capable rate for the B-52H was 78.3 percent even though the bomber’s average age is 50.8 years — blowing the doors off the B-1B’s 56.8 percent mission-capable and the B-2A’s 51.3 percent mission-capable rate.