USAF's Stratofortress enters new phase
On 8 December 2025, after radar modification, a Boeing B-52H, with serial number 60-0061, completed its ferry flight from Boeing's Kelly facility near San Antonio (TX) to Edwards AFB (CA). On 7 June 2023, Scramble Magazine first wrote about Stratofortresses will oversee the battlefield and the first Radar Modernisation Programme (RMP) which would apply to 60-0061.
Test pilots from the 49th Test Evaluation Squadron at Barksdale AFB (LA) and the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB will execute ground and flight test activities on 0061 throughout 2026 to enable a production decision later in the year.
The modern AN/APQ-188 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system replaces the B-52H's obsolete legacy radar, providing an upgraded all-weather navigation and targeting capability for the 65-year-old strategic bomber to ensure its future effectiveness. During the recent years, the AESA radar, developed by Raytheon Technologies, has been integrated into the B-52 at Boeing's San Antonio facility.
The Stratofortress RMP is a key element of the broader USAF strategy to modernise the B-52 as its planned service life now extends through 2050, and potentially beyond, as it becomes the long-range strike complement to the Air Force’s newest strategic bomber, the B-21 Raider.
Along with a new radar and engines, the fleet of 76 B-52s are scheduled to receive additional upgrades. See our news items on USAF takes B-52H's updates seriously, the resurrection of USAF Stratofortresses, there is more to it, and B-52H testbed on the move.
Strikingly, arriving at Edwards devoid of any markings with only the serial number applied, 0061 has a long history of being the Flagship of the 72nd Bomb Squadron ("72BS") and the 307th Bomb Wing ("307BW"). Besides that, in the past 0061 has carried the following names on the port side of the fuselage: "Die Laughin' Jester", "Man-O-War II" and "Spirit Of Aggieland II".
Credit photos: USAF / credit patch: https://www.aviatorgear.com