The Air Force currently expects to operate B-52s through 2050. The B-52A first flew in 1954, and the B model entered service in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built, with the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962. The first of 102 B-52H's was delivered to Strategic Air Command in May 1961. The H model can carry up to 20 air-launched cruise In fact, currently, the smallest strategic bomber is the H-6. The development and service time of the H-6 and the B-52 is similar, and everyone can be regarded as a contemporaneous product, but a comprehensive comparison of the load range and other aspects of a B-52 is approximately equal to three H-6s. The US preparing to give B-52 a major A new Boeing image shows the B-52 cockpit will take on a cleaner, more streamlined appearance after the bomber completes a program of some of the most substantive changes in its 60-year history. The image is still considered notional but will likely be close to the final version of how the BUFF’s “front office” will look, starting in the The B-52 is one of the most iconic symbols of America's military might. stands with U.S. Air Force personnel beside a B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber at Barksdale Air Force Base outside Boeing B-52D-40-BW Stratofortress 56-695 launches a McDonnell GAM-72 Quail. (U.S. Air Force) Defensive armament consisted of four Browning Aircraft Machine Guns, Caliber .50, AN-M3, mounted in a tail turret with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun. These guns had a combined rate of fire in excess of 4,000 rounds per minute. The May 1997 Report of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), prescribed a total fleet of 187 bombers (95 B-1, 21 B-2, and 71 B-52). Since the QDR, two B-1s had been lost in peacetime accidents. B-52 in the air. Introduced to the US military in the 1950s, the venerable B-52 Stratofortress has been taking to the skies for decades, including in the mid-2010s against ISIS targets in Iraq and A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 340th Weapons Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base The upgrade contract worth $442 million has been awarded to Raytheon. The contractor is expected to develop new technologies for the B-52 and RC-135, allowing the aircraft to take advantage of anti-jamming communications satellites. Side-by-side comparison of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress against the Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Condor). Relative Size Comparison. Football fans watch U.S. Air Force strategic bombers — from left, B-52H Stratofortress, B-2 Spirit and B-1B Lancer — fly as they gather outside of the Raymond James Stadium during the Super OZX4es.