Editors' Pick|35,172 views|Jun 2, 2020,12:06pm EDT
Five Reasons The Air Force’s B-52 Bomber Will Be The First Jet Ever To Stay In Service For 100 Years
Loren Thompson
This Friday marks the anniversary of the day in 1946 when the Air Force announced that Boeing BA had won the competition to build the plane that would become the B-52 Stratofortress.
That event unfolded so long ago that the Air Force was not yet an independent service, and the plane Boeing initially proposed was propeller-driven. It isn’t likely anybody at the time imagined the new bomber would become the most iconic military aircraft in history, and still be operating two decades into the 21st century.
In fact, if the Air Force sticks with current plans, the B-52 will operate through 2050, making it the first jet, and maybe the only jet, to stay in continuous operation for a hundred years. The plan is to retire bombers that debuted decades later before the B-52 flies its last mission, and buy a stealthy new strike aircraft designated the B-21 to populate a heavy bomber force ultimately consisting of 220 planes (there are 157 today).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2020/06/02/five-reasons-the-air-forces-b-52-bomber-will-be-the-first-jet-ever-to-stay-in-service-for-100-years/#1456b4885ee6
