Wednesday, August 10, 2022
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

USAF Gets First Upgraded B-52H Bomber

by Air Force News Agency
May 1, 2014
in Air Force News
2 min read
0
Minot Bomb Wing Commander Relieved Of Duty
14
VIEWS

Air Force Global Strike Command took delivery of a significantly enhanced Boeing B-52H Stratofortress in a ceremony here, April 25.

The B-52H spent the previous 10 months at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., being refitted with the Combat Network Communications Technology, or CONECT, upgrade. This modification is designed to greatly improve the aircraft’s utility in the modern battlespace and to keep the 50-year-old aircraft capable and lethal until at least 2040.

“The first CONECT B-52 we’re about to receive is a major leap forward in advancing the BUFF on the battlefield,” said Maj. Gen. Scott A. Vander Hamm, the 8th Air Force commander.

The CONECT upgrades provide the B-52H with digital display screens, computer network servers and real-time beyond line of sight communication links, allowing crews to stay connected to the world throughout their mission, officials said. A combined air and space operations center can now provide the aircraft with constant updated threat and targeting data, rather than the crew and mission being dependent solely upon information that was available at take-off.

“Over the past two decades we’ve seen rapid advancements in technology, and that has really changed way we operate on the battlefield, especially in the information environment,” Vander Hamm said. “What hasn’t changed is the need to advance our capabilities and integrate those technologies with information to provide our aircrew with the most up-to-date information and the ability to act on it.”

The machine-to-machine interfacing introduced by CONECT also allows for rapid re-tasking and retargeting while eliminating potential human error, giving the B-52H the capability of conduct digitally-aided close-support missions in coordination with tactical air control parties on the ground. This ability to make precise changes in an instant is critical in the quicksilver world of modern combat.

“It’s the integration of these and other CONECT aspects that are increasing the combat capability of this old, but very formidable, aircraft,” Vander Hamm said.

Another facet of CONECT is the addition of networking devices to the aircraft to act as a digital framework, allowing for easier incorporation of new technologies in the future, officials said.

“Now when we add additional systems to the aircraft at some future date, we will be going from a digital component, across our new digital backbone, to another digital component elsewhere in the aircraft,” said Alan Williams, the deputy program element monitor at AFGSC. “In the future, it will make upgrades easier to do because we’ll already have the digital infrastructure in the aircraft.”

Because CONECT requires making such extensive modifications to the aircraft, the upgrades can only be performed during Periodic Depot Maintenance, or PDM, at Tinker AFB. All aircraft are scheduled for PDM on four-year cycles.

According to officials, equipping a B-52H with CONECT requires nearly 7,000 man-hours to complete, or approximately nine months per aircraft. The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker currently has the capacity to perform a maximum of 17 of these refits per year. All B-52H’s are scheduled to complete the upgrade by 2020.

“The B-52 is here to stay,” Vander Hamm said. “CONECT is keeping us current, relevant and credible in today’s and tomorrow’s fight.”

Tags: B-52B-52HbomberbombersUS air forceusaf
Previous Post

Allies Enhance NATO Air-Policing Duties In Baltics States, Poland, Romania

Next Post

Northrop to Provide Dismounted IED Jammers for US Marines

Related Posts

Five dead as Romania chopper crashes, fighter jet missing

Two pilots killed as Soviet-era fighter jet crashes in India

July 30, 2022

Two pilots have been killed in India after a Soviet-era fighter jet crashed during a training sortie, the air force...

Airbus tests A400M military plane as water bomber

Airbus tests A400M military plane as water bomber

July 26, 2022

Airbus said Tuesday it had successfully tested its A400M military transporter as a water bomber as heatwaves cause an increasing...

Next Post
Counter-IED Organization Concentrates on Afghanistan

Northrop to Provide Dismounted IED Jammers for US Marines

Latest Defense News

China will ‘take the gloves off’ over Taiwan: media

Taiwan FM says China using drills to ‘prepare for invasion’

August 10, 2022
US moves closer to retaliation over hacking as cyber woes grow

Finnish parliament website targeted in cyber attack

August 10, 2022
People displaced by the fighting in Burma's Laukai approach a rescue convoy

Mounting proof of crimes against humanity in Myanmar: UN probe

August 10, 2022
China’s Taiwan jet incursions at second-highest level in November

Taiwan to hold anti-invasion drills after China exercises

August 8, 2022
Chinese Military Conducts Joint Air-Sea Drill Near Taiwan Island

China holds fresh military drills around Taiwan

August 8, 2022
Taiwan anger over China military drills during virus outbreak

China fires missiles around Taiwan in major military drills

August 4, 2022

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
  • Royal New Zealand Air Force
  • Romania and Vlad the impaler
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
  • Indonesian Aero News
  • Space X Boca Chico Build & Launch Facility.
  • Iraqi Air Force and Air Defense
  • The best strategy to defending Singapore Island
  • Naval Ship & Submarine Propulsion Systems
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com