Combat aircraft

The USAF

is to open a

long-awaited

competition to

re-engine

its B-52Hs.

Jamie Hunter

BACKING THE ‘BUFF’

T

HE DECISION BY the US Air

Force to back the B-52H

in preference to the B-1B

and the B-2A as revealed

in its new ‘Bomber Vector’

represents an astonishing

endorsement of a dinosaur of an

aircraft. A bomber built in the early

1960s is set to remain in service until

at least 2050 thanks to a long-awaited

re-engining program.

The USAF says the B-52 is cheaper

to maintain and has a lower cost per

 ying hour compared with the Lancer

and the Spirit. Moreover, the new B-

Raider will ably assume roles from

these bombers, whereas the B-52’s

payload and versatility is not so easy

to replace. Both the B-21 and the B-

can carry cruise missiles, a role that

neither the B-1 nor B-2 is able to ful ll.

Therefore, justi cation for retaining

the B-52 is easy. The hard task will be

ensuring the B-21 doesn’t fall into the

same trap as the B-1 and B-2 have.

Both are phenomenally expensive to

support and operate, and both are

su ering from parts obsolescence. The

B-21 must learn from these lessons,

it must be built in su cient numbers

to amortize the high development

and manufacturing costs, and it must

be su ciently versatile to constantly

mature — avoiding the ‘big bang’

upgrade cycles.

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Jamie Hunter,

Editor

E-mail: [email protected]

COMBAT EDGE // FIND US ON

04 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

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