The matriarch of the Air Force’s strategic nuclear fleet is getting some work done, and the result is smoother skin and curvier limbs. Air and Space Forces Magazine released an image of a 3-D rendering of what the next iteration of the 70-plus-year-old B-52 will likely look like and it’s definitely a softer image. “The image was rendered from a digital prototyping model and is likely to closely resemble the final version,” the magazine said.
Gone are the blisters and lumps that adorn the nose of current BUFFs thanks to the smaller tech available for the various sensors and antennas that see the way. The dowager of the Air Force fleet does add a couple of humps on its back, however, but there’s no word on what they accommodate. The big news for the upgrade (besides the major flight deck upgrade) is the Rolls-Royce F130 turbofans that nestle into more streamlined nacelles, which were first unveiled a month ago. The new engines will put a spring in the old airframe’s step, too. They will increase every performance parameter on the airframe. The modifications will be made to 76 aircraft.
