Is The B-52H Bomber still Nuke Capable?

Question

Im doing a report in college and i need some info, anything will help

Answer 1

Yes, I believe so. The B-52H is the latest upgrade to the aircraft, so basically, it's just to beef it up including the already existing components and capabilities.

Answer 2

It is a frequent missconception that nuclear capability in an airplane is a bad thing. Actually, it is quite the opposite.
The first nuclear bomb ever dropped on a target was released from a B29 bomber in 1945. That airplane was designed in the early 1940's and flew for the first time in September 1942, at a time where the size and weight of an eventual nuclear device was still far from being known.
Additonally, modern nuclear bombs can be quite small, some of them being less than 100 kg, the weight of a tall man, while still packing the punch of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Themonuclear warheads on the MX missile (W87) have a yield of 300 kt, 20 times that of the Hiroshima bomb, yet have a mass only about 250 kg.
So, nuclear capability is not linked with the weight of the devices; so what is it?
Safing mechanisms. Airplane with nuclear capability have special devices that ensure a pilot will not go nuts and start a war without due order. The systems also ensure that, should the airplane crash, the bomb will not go off in a nuclear explosion.
But nothing will prevent someone from putting a nuclear bomb on any type of airplane, even a small general aviation single engine propeller airplane if they so desire, if they do not care about the safety of the airplane crew and of the people on the ground.
So, unless someone removes all the nifty safety gizmos from an airplane -- and why would anyone do that? -- any plane with nuclear capability will retain that capability.
Now, this brings another debate: if someone has airplane with nuclear capability, will someone always and certainly come to use it? If not, then this nuclear capability of an airplane is nothing to be concerned about. It does not, never means the airplane is always carrying nuclear weapons.

Answer 3

Well, once capable, always capable, but I'm sure any nuclear payload would be delivered by an aircraft with stealth capabilities, such as the F-117A (stealth fighter) or the B-2 Spirit (stealth bomber), or even the F-22 Raptor. The B-52 sure is a good ol' gal of a plane though. Anything in service for over fifty years (proudly serving since 1954) has to be pretty damn good. Below is the wikipedia link, as well as some other helpful ones.


**According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the B-52 is still capable of an nuclear payload, and there are over 1000 warheads specifically for the aircraft. Talk about overkill, huh? (It's linked last.)

Answer 4

Any aircraft that WAS "nuke capable" is STILL nuke capable.

The only thing that you can do to a Buff to make it non-nuke capable is to chop it up into tiny pieces. That's exactly what was done under the START II treaty, by the way. Great numbers of them were chopped up at the Air Force's aircraft bone yard at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

Answer 5

B-1 and B-2 would be probably used to drop normal nukes like B61, but they are not already able to drop cruise missiles, so to drop ALCM(air launched cruise missile) that are the nuclear version of CALCM(C is for conventional, non-nuclear) are needed B-52 because they are the only bombers that can launch them.

Answer 6

its nickname is the BUFF big ugly f'ing fellow military loves their acronyms and it is still nuke capable although the B1 and B2 would probably be used if it came to that

Answer 7

of course