Boeing has taken delivery of the first of two B-52 bombers that will undergo upgrades to their radar technology at the company’s Port San Antonio facility, part of a $376 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to modernize the long-range bomber’s capabilities.
Roughly 70 to 80 existing Boeing employees will be working on the bombers, according to Dee Russell, senior communications specialist for Boeing Government Operations Southeast Region.
Boeing’s San Antonio facility is home to one of the largest military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in the world, and includes the largest hangar in the world, which can accommodate up to 15 wide-body aircraft at a time.
That hangar, known as Building 375, was built specifically to support “this magnificent airplane,” said Jim Perschbach, president and CEO of Port San Antonio. “So it is very fitting that it is coming back here to undergo technological upgrades that will ensure its readiness in continued service to our nation in the decades ahead.”
The Air Force contract “continues to grow what is already the company’s largest aircraft maintenance and modernization complex in the world, adding an array of capabilities thanks to the versatile talent of San Antonians,” he continued.
Boeing held an “induction ceremony” on May 25 to commemorate the arrival of the bomber, which boasts a wingspan of 185 feet and weighs roughly 185,000 pounds. The aircraft is part of the 307th Bomb Wing out of Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Boeing’s Oklahoma City location will also do B-52 modernization.
“The B-52 brings unique, critical capabilities to the U.S. Air Force as they move to a future two-bomber platform strategy,” said Jennifer Wong, director of Boeing’s Bomber Programs. “By modernizing the B-52 radar, we’re increasing the relevancy of the aircraft for the warfighter for close air support or strategic attack.”
This is the first time this type of work has ever been completed on the B-52, which first flew in 1954, according to the Air Force. The most recent model, the B-52H, rolled off the line in 1962.
The contract “highlights Boeing’s ongoing, enduring relationships with the U.S. Air Force and Port San Antonio,” wrote Russell. This is at least the second time Boeing’s San Antonio facility has worked on the B-52.
In 2015, Boeing completed repair work on one of the massive planes, the first time a B-52 had been worked on there since Port San Antonio was Kelly Air Force Base.
“The arrival of this aircraft is a big deal, and signals the beginning of a key part of our effort to modernize the B-52 fleet,” said Col. Louis Ruscetta, senior materiel leader for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s B-52 Program Office in a story about the program from Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs. “Boeing is the [original equipment manufacturer] for the B-52, so their long-standing history and knowledge of the platform is really critical.”
The radar modernization program is part of a larger, $2.8 billion effort to update the bomber, which was first designed “with pencils and paper,” in the 1950s, according to Boeing News.
The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions, according to the U.S. Air Force. Capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, the B-52 can carry nuclear and precision-guided conventional ordnance.
In 2019, Boeing’s facilities in San Antonio and St. Louis received a $73 million, 10-year contract to modify and modernize the Navy’s 550-plus F/A-18 Super Hornets fighter jets.
