With tensions increasingly rising in Asia and the Pacific, the US Air Force is said to be putting
its B52 fleet on 24-hour Ready Alert Status, keeping the planes’ bomb bays loaded and now
adding even tinier bombs in an unexpected place. As the military branch tests the rapid response
capabilities of its nuclear bomber fleet, it is resorting to a unique trick to reduce the
B52’s liftoff time from one hour to less than 10 minutes by placing small explosive
devices into the bomber's engines. And there’s video footage to prove it.
A Venerable Heavy Bomber
The Boeing B52 Stratofortress bomber has been in service for over 70 years.
The American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered bomber has seen countless
battlefields around the world and proven to be a reliable asset.
The origins of this legendary aircraft can be traced back to the post-war era
when tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began to increase.
Knowing that the Soviet Union was miles away from the nearest allied bases in Germany,
the top brass idealized an aircraft capable of making its way through enemy territory
without the need to land in an airfield for refueling or maintenance.
In November of 1945, Air Material Command issued requests for a strategic bomber that was capable
of: (QUOTE) “Carrying out the strategic mission without dependence upon advanced and intermediate
bases controlled by other countries." The strategic bomber had to cruise
at 300 miles per hour at 34,000 feet, with an expected range of 5,000 miles,
and its armament would consist of a 20-millimeter cannon and a bombload capacity of 10,000 pounds.
Boeing eventually won the contract with its Model 462 prototype.
Still, General Curtis LeMay and the US Air Force made several
suggestions regarding the specifications, capabilities, and size of the aircraft,
and the project stalled to the point that the contract was almost canceled.
However, by late 1948, Boeing engineers George S. Schairer, Art Carlsen,
and Vaughn Blumenthal came up with the design for a four-engine bomber based on the B47 Stratojet.
The aircraft was dubbed XB52, and 13 models were cleared for production in February of 1951.
The design quickly evolved from a straight-wing bomber powered by 6
turboprop engines to a swept-wing design with 8 turbojet engines.
The definitive B52 could carry 70,000 pounds worth of bombs
at cruising speeds between 500 and 600 miles per hour with an outstanding range of 8,000 miles.
Ultimately, Boeing crafted one of the world's biggest aircraft to date.
The B52 is 159 feet long, with a height of 40 feet and a wingspan of 185 feet.
Weighing between 185,000 and 265,000 pounds,
the aircraft quickly earned the nickname BUFF, or Big Ugly Fat Fella.
War Record
During its first years of service, the B52 was used to test prototype assets.
Then, in May of 1956, a B52 dropped an MK15 nuclear bomb over Bikini Atoll
in a test called Cherokee. B52s were also extensively used to
perform airborne alert patrols during the Cold War and before the American intervention in Vietnam.
Strategic bombers loitered the borders of the Soviet Union at high altitudes
to provide rapid first strike attacks in case of nuclear war with the nation.
In 1965, modified B52F bombers with 24 external racks for additional housing ordinance were
used for Operation Rolling Thunder, the massive bombardment of North Vietnam. B52 Stratofortresses
heavily pummeled the Communist Vietnamese territory through carpet or saturation bombing.
Then, during the Battle of la Drang in November of 1965,
B52s were used in a tactical support role for the first time.
The B52 would eventually support Army and Marines ground units defending isolated
hills or bases surrounded and encircled by enemy formations for the following years.
During the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968, B52s conducted support bombing missions
to help the Marines defend the base from the numerically superior NVA forces.
It was not until November of 1972 that the first B52
was shot down by enemy surface-to-air missiles.
Before the end of the war, Operation Linebacker 2 became the rising point of the B52's carrier
when waves of them flew over 700 sorties over Hanoi and other targets.
In 12 days of December 1972, the B52s dropped more than 15,000 tons of bombs. Tail gunners also
took part in the action, taking down enemy MiG21s with the powerful quad .50-caliber machine guns.
It is estimated that 31 aircraft were lost during the war.
After Vietnam, the B52 G and H models
were left in nuclear standby and alert duty as part of the military's nuclear triad duty.
Then, after the Soviet Union crumbled, the remaining B52s were destroyed
in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START. At the outbreak of the Gulf War, some B52 bombers
were used to bomb critical objectives and deliver weapons and supplies to friendly
forces. And by the end of the 1990s, the B52H was the only military variant in military service.
It served during Operation Desert Strike, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom.
Following the current tensions with Russia, China, and Korea displaying their nuclear capabilities,
the Air Force has announced that it has no plans to retire the aircraft until 2050.
Ready Alert Status The B52H variant has remained
unchanged since it switched to the TF33P3 turbofan engines a few years back. The variant also
features an ADR8 countermeasures rocket and space for housing four GAM87 Skybolt ballistic missiles.
In September of 2021, the Department of Defense announced that it had
reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce to supply new engines for the aging B52.
Combined with other electronic upgrades, the new engines will extend the life of the B52
for another 30 years, and experts believe that the
B52 will most certainly accomplish 100 years of service with the Air Force.
Also, with the ongoing nuclear threats from China and North Korea,
the US has decided to keep its B52 fleet at bay in case of a nuclear outbreak in the Pacific.
The nuclear triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and nuclear submarines
has been a strategy that the US Strategic Command has adopted since the Cold War era. And if one of
them fails, the US has other options to retaliate against the enemy in the case of conflict.
The situation has prompted the military to consider the idea of putting back its
strategic bombers on 24 alert status. Ready Alert Status, or RAS, means that
bombers remain parked and ready to take off with nuclear weapons loaded at a moment's notice.
The bombers' backbone is the B52H BUFF, and while the US top brass decided to put it
back into action based on the most recent North Korean and Chinese nuclear threats,
the Air Force began to test the combat readiness of the trusty old bomber.
Cart Start
It usually takes about an hour to get the B52’s eight engines up and running. But Ready Alert
Status requires the bombers to be ready in a matter of minutes to respond to a threat.
To achieve this feat, small, controlled explosive devices are placed into two
of the 8 engines to help speed things up. Consequently, the Air Force resorted to an
explosive trick to get the B52's engines running a lot quicker than expected. The technique is
called Cart Start, or Cartridge Start, and it can reduce liftoff time to a mere 10 minutes.
Tech Sergeant Andrew Poole from the 36th EAMXS crew chief said in an Air Force article (QUOTE):
"The charges basically jumpstart the engines, removing the need to bring
out the aerospace ground equipment used on normal launches. By removing these steps
we increase the aircrafts startup time from more than an hour to less than 10 minutes."
Typically, the BUFF bombers are supplied with an alternate
energy source and air supply to start the engines.
Still, they can lift off much quicker with the proper cart-starts, just like most recent bombers.
Sergeant Poole exposed that: (QUOTE) "During these scenarios we perform like we would in an
emergency situation, the pilots run out of the vehicle to the aircraft, the maintainers load
the cartridges as fast as they can, and we can get the bird airborne in less than 10 minutes."
"But what we really do is turn all the engines on and run through the pre-flight checks like
a regular launch. Once we have checked all systems to make sure everything is working
normally, we then shut everything down." So far, the tests have been successful,
and video footage shows the process of igniting the explosives to support
the engines and reduce the lift-off time. If a nuclear war were to happen, the B52 BUFFs
are ready to answer the call of duty and support the allies of the United States in the Pacific.
Sergeant Poole concluded: (QUOTE) "We are showcasing our ability to have these bombers
up and in the air at a moment's notice, so that the guys at Pacific Command know what
kind of capabilities this plane brings to the global deterrence mission here."
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us know in the comments below what you think of the Cart Start system.