B-52 Gets $48.6 Billion Upgrade to Carry Hypersonic Weapons Into the 2050s

2 articles · Updated · WION · Jun 20

$48.6 billion in B-52J upgrades is replacing obsolete mechanical sensors and extending the 1950s-era bomber’s combat life well into the 2050s.
New AN/APQ-188 AESA radar, secure data links and 8x20-inch cockpit touchscreens are turning the aircraft from an analogue platform into a networked strike bomber tied to the Pentagon’s combat cloud.
That overhaul supports its current role as a standoff missile truck, launching cruise missiles and future hypersonic weapons from safe airspace rather than dropping gravity bombs over defended targets.
Eight new Rolls-Royce F130 engines and the airframe’s unusually high structural margin are key reasons the 390,000-pound bomber has outlasted younger designs and remains in active global combat service.