The Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress(or
BUF -Big
Ugly Fucker)is an eight-engined heavy bomber used by the US Air Force. Initially designed in the late 1940s/early 1950s, the B-52 was the
mainstay of America's nuclear deterrent bomber force since 1954. Although designed to nuke the crap out of soviets, the BUF has never been actually used in its intended combat role. The B-52 has since proven to be a great conventional bomber, even being used as a close-air-support plane(a role for fighter bombers). Although 50 years old, the BUF is simply the most efficient way to drop a shitload of bombs on someone and is expected to be in service past
2045, thanks to constant upgrades and tough-as-hell engineering. It can carry cruise missiles too.
Interesting trivia for ya: The band The B-52s are not named after the bomber, but rather the hairstyle... which looks like the
B-52's nosecone
Pham Tuan, the first pilot to shoot down a stratofortress, later became
vietnam's first cosmonaut.
The
B-52 can carry around 70,000lbs of bombs. thats right, seventy-fucking-thousand.
The B-52 is so old, that its perfectly possible for a pilot out there to be flying the same
BUF that his father and grandfather previously flew.