US Air Force
Legendary B-52 bomber is to be modernized using video game technology
A B-52 Stratofortress in Guam.
© US Navy / Imago Images
The eight-engine long-range bomber B-52 Stratofortress is to be modernized. For the necessary simulations, manufacturer Boeing uses surprisingly civilian resources.
It is now almost 70 years ago – in 1955 the US bomber Boeing B-52 Stratofortress entered service. The US Air Force still relies on the long-range aircraft with the eight characteristic engines. If everything goes according to plan, this won’t change before 2050 – by then the aircraft’s core would be almost 100 years old.
Of course, military equipment can only last so long if it is continually modernized and adapted to the state of the art. Two major programs are currently underway for the “stratospheric fortress”. On the one hand, the remaining aircraft will receive new radar systems from the US manufacturer Raytheon, and on the other hand, the Air Force has been planning to convert the engines for many years.
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Currently, the remaining bombers that are always operational rely on Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines. These were built between 1958 and 1985 – and are now considered hopelessly outdated and expensive. As early as 1996, manufacturer Boeing suggested replacing the machines with Rolls-Royce models. 13 studies and 25 years later, the decision was made at the end of 2021 to swap the old TF33 turbines for Rolls-Royce F130s. The work is now underway.
The current goal is a complete fleet conversion by the end of 2036. According to the US Air Force, there are 58 aircraft in the armed forces’ active inventory.
Boeing relies on “Fortnite” technology
The so-called Unreal Engine 5 is intended to help with planning the work and the calculations that need to be made before the actual conversions. This is a modern graphics engine used to display video games. Probably the most famous example, whose graphics come from Unreal Engine 5, is Fortnite.
At the annual Air, Space & Cyber conference, Jennifer Wong, Boeing’s senior director for bombers, said, according to Defense One: “It’s a really impressive, powerful tool. We learn better and adapt faster with the simulations, When we talk about models, it’s as if we were bending metal first.”
The computer simulations with the video game engine should also help in collaboration with the Air Force, as changes and innovations can be discussed and improved more quickly – long before the conversion actually begins.
B-52 could live 100 years
For the Air Force, upgrading the classic cars seems to be worthwhile. According to Colonel Scott Foreman, head of the Air Force’s B-52 program, there is no final end date for the bombers’ retirement. According to Defense One, he could imagine the B-52 taking off long after 2050.
The long survival of the Fairchild-Republic A-10 (Warthog) fighter aircraft shows how useful the old iron can still be for the armed forces. In 2014 there were initial efforts to retire the remaining machines – it was not until 2023 that the US Congress agreed to put this plan into action by 2028. The world-famous aircraft with the fearsome GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm Gatling machine cannon will then have flown missions for 52 years.
Sources: Defense One, Air Force