If the Air Force Loves the B-52 Bomber So Much Why Not Build New Versions?

[rangerrebew]

October 13, 2024 

If the Air Force Loves the B-52 Bomber So Much Why Not Build New Versions?

The U.S. Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress has flown for seven decades and could serve until 2050, but the idea of building new B-52s is impractical.

by Peter Suciu Follow PeterSuciu on TwitterL
 
What You Need to Know: The U.S. Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress has flown for seven decades and could serve until 2050, but the idea of building new B-52s is impractical.
 
 
-While Russia has resumed production of similar bombers like the Tu-95 and Tu-160, the U.S. ceased B-52 production in the 1960s.

-Rebuilding the necessary infrastructure and production lines would be costly and unnecessary.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/if-air-force-loves-b-52-bomber-so-much-why-not-build-new-versions-213074

[rangerrebew]

If gender change can be accomplished simply by thinking about it, why can't a B-52 be made into a stealth aircraft just by thinking about it?

[AL]

If the 52's have been in service for 70 years then somebody got something right,  why is it impractical to build more?  No doubt they would cost more these days but something as time proven at these things are it might be a good investment.  Take money earmarked for Ukraine and spend it on something of tangible value.

[corbe]

   Boeing is too corrupt now to replicate the Geniuses that designed, planned and built the BUFF.  I climbed up into one on my base being WRM Supply clerk in 73.

[Fishrrman]

Don't let Boeing build them.
Give the job to Elon...

[Wingnut]

It is hard to believe that over the last 50 years some fool in the dod hasn't tried to kill the BUFF.  The asshats never see the big picture.

[PeteS in CA]

IIRC, production of the B-52 ceased in the early 1960s. Most of the documents for the B-52 are on paper, while modern manufacturing processes use CAD (computer) documentation. For a system as complex as the B-52, that's a huge barrier to restarting production. There probably is a substantial amount of unique tooling that would have to be recreated as well.

[Kamaji]

IIRC, production of the B-52 ceased in the early 1960s. Most of the documents for the B-52 are on paper, while modern manufacturing processes use CAD (computer) documentation. For a system as complex as the B-52, that's a huge barrier to restarting production. There probably is a substantial amount of unique tooling that would have to be recreated as well.

It's probably more a lack of the tooling, dies, and other machinery needed to build these things than it is availability of design documents themselves.  Even if they're all paper, so long as a complete set of paper documents exists, that could be computerized in a reasonable period of time, but that would still leave all the missing tooling, which was probably all recycled by the end of the 1970s.