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Two eight-engine US long-range Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers will make their first low-level flyover of Zeltweg at AIRPOWER22. During a routine flight, both B-52s will detour to AIRPOWER22 for the benefit of the spectators. After the overflight, the two B-52s will continue to their destination.
The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing developed the B-52 in the late 1940s to carry nuclear weapons. Its maiden flight took place on 15 April 1952. In the 1950s, the B-52 represented the core element of the US’s Strategic Air Command Cold War nuclear deterrence. Subsequently, the B-52 evolved into the US Air Force’s most versatile and durable bomber. Following the retirement of the last Hawker Hunter, it is now the world’s oldest active jet aircraft.
The B-52 saw service in multiple conflicts, from the Vietnam War, and the Second Gulf War in 1991, to the Kosovo War in 1999. It recently saw action in 2015 against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In 2006, of the Stratofortress’s latest version, the B-52H, 94 of 744 were still in service. The bomber is expected to remain in service until the 2050s and would thus be the longest-serving fighter aircraft in history, alongside the Soviet Tu-95.
