Boeing showed a modernized B-52 missile carrier
The North American Boeing Corporation has released a rendering of the B-52 missile carrier, which is undergoing the most extensive modernization in the last 50 years. The strategic bomber will receive new engines. According to General Jason Armagost, the modernized aircraft will be operated by the US Air Force until at least 2050.
The number of engines in the modernized missile carrier will not change. There will still be eight of them. The current version of the B-52 is equipped with TF33-PW-103 power units from Pratt & Whithey. The modernized bomber will receive F130 power plants from Rolls-Royce.
Rendered image of the B-52K strategic missile carrier
The updated B-52 will be equipped with the latest radar, due to which the contours of its nose will change. Boeing engineers will move optical-electronic sensors from the nose part under the wing. The cabin of the missile carrier will become more ‘glass’. The 47 B-52H bombers in service with the US Army are armed with WCMS, JSOW, JDAM and JASSM precision-guided munitions. The modernized aircraft will carry on board 4-8 hypersonic missiles with large booster units, the tests of which have not yet been completed. Their flight range will reach 15,000 kilometers.
The current version of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber
The first modernized missile carriers will enter service with the US Air Force within three to four years. They will be designated as B52K or B-52J.
