This Is What The B-52’s New Radar Looks Like
The first B-52 ever equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has arrived at Edwards Air Force Base for testing. This is a major and much-delayed milestone, one of many that will occur as the B-52H morphs into the significantly modernized B-52J. With the news of the ferry flight, which originated in San Antonia, where the installation of Raytheon’s AN/APQ-188 Bomber Modernized Radar System took place, we are also getting a good look at what the fighter-derived radar looks like installed in the B-52’s unique nose profile. To say it is a more modern-looking arrangement than the mechanically scanned AN/APQ-166 that came before it is an understatement.
“The ferry flight of this upgraded B-52 marks an important moment in our efforts to modernize the bomber force,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in a statement in an Air Force press release. “This radar modernization ensures that the B-52 will continue to serve as a cornerstone of American airpower well into the future. We are committed to extending the life of this vital platform, allowing it to operate alongside next-generation fighter and bomber aircraft.”
The BUFF’s new radar is based directly on the AN/APG-79 that has equipped most F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and all F/A-18G Growlers, as well as nearly 100 F/A-18A-D Hornets still serving with the USMC. The F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle II’s AN/APG-82 also builds upon AN/APG-79 technology. At this point, it’s one of the Pentagon’s most proven fighter AESA just based on time served and production numbers.
That isn’t to say that things have been smooth going in adapting the radar to the B-52’s needs. The program has gone over budget and busted schedules, which led the USAF to inquire about alternatives. The price tag also rose high enough to trigger a deep, legally mandated review of the program’s core requirements and cost estimates. Flight testing of the first B-52 with the new radar was originally expected to start in 2024.
Just getting the new radar to fit physically in the B-52’s nose is known to be one of the challenges the program has had to overcome.
“The Air Force continues to refine the system radome design to, address aircraft integration issues. Depending on final radome design, radar performance may be impacted,” the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Test of Evaluation noted in its most recent annual report, which was released earlier this year. “The program office should fully characterize performance with the final radome design to inform operational employment tactics.”
From the pictures that have been released now, the external shaping of the B-52’s nose looks to be largely unchanged following the installation of the AN/APQ-188. There is a relatively narrow off-color seam visible between the nose and the cockpit.
It’s worth noting that the AN/APG-79 variant installed in the BUFF is angled downward. This would reflect its unique placement in the B-52, basically in the lower deck of a massive radome enclosure. Its ability to look up is hampered by the bulkhead above it, something we will come back to later on.
The new radar installation on the B-52 also comes along with “two Display and System Sensor Processors as its mission computers to integrate the radar with B-52 systems, along with two large 8×20-inch high-definition touchscreens at the Nav and Radar Nav stations for radar imagery, control and legacy displays, and two fighter-like hand controllers for radar operation,” according to a press release from Boeing. “The system features upgraded cooling, providing liquid cooling for the radar and engine bleed-air heating for very cold conditions.”
Regardless of the issues the radar upgrade program has faced, the USAF appears to be sticking with the AN/APG-79-derived AN/APQ-188. A new AESA radar is really a must-have in order to keep the B-52 relevant for decades to come.
Simply put, giving the B-52 a modern multimode AESA provides a massive capability boost. As we have discussed in the past:
“In general, AESA radars offer greater range, fidelity, and resistance to countermeasures, as well as the ability to provide better overall general situational awareness, compared to mechanically scanned types. Increasingly advanced AESAs bring additional capabilities, including electronic warfare and communications support.
For the B-52, any new multi-mode AESA will improve the bomber’s target acquisition and identification capabilities, including when used together with targeting pods available for the bombers now. New radars for the bombers will also be helpful when it comes to guiding networked weapons over long distances to their targets and could provide a secondary ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and synthetic aperture radar surveillance capabilities. The radar upgrade could help defend B-52s from air-to-air threats, including through improved detection of incoming hostile aircraft.“
Beyond their tactical advantages, AESAs are generally more reliable, particularly due to their lack of moving parts. Without the need to move a radar dish rapidly in multiple directions, while the jet is under various g-loads and is rocked by turbulence and hard landings, the actual time the radar is available for use goes up. The aforementioned secondary electronic warfare capability also can’t be understated. The new radar will surely become a key and very powerful component of the B-52’s upgraded electronic warfare suite, which will be critical to its ability to survive in future fights.
As mentioned, the positioning of the AN/APQ-188 in the BUFF’s nose impacts its ability to look up. At the same time, this is also aligned more with air-to-surface tasks considering the B-52’s mission set. As a point of comparison, the AN/APG-79 as installed in the Super Hornet is angled upward. This is due, at least in part, to match the reduced observability (stealthy) features of the Super Hornet. In the Legacy Hornet, the array is nearly vertical, as there are no low-observable demands for that platform. In that case, space concerns may also be an issue. The B-52 is about as unstealthy as an aircraft can get, so the downward angle is clearly not dictated by observability design drivers.
The new radar is just one facet of the comprehensive upgrade program now in development for the B-52 that will end in the jet receiving the B-52J designation. Even more important than the new radar is replacing the BUFF’s antique TF-33 low-bypass turbofan engines with Rolls-Royce F-130 turbofans. That program is now well underway but is also behind schedule and over budget, with full operational capability not slated till 2033. So the fully featured ‘super BUFF’ won’t be plowing the skies anytime soon, but the hope is that once complete, the fleet of 76 jets can remain reliable and relevant through 2050, at least, serving alongside the drastically more modern B-21 Raider.
You can learn all about what makes up the B-52J and how it will be used in our video below.
B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J
As it stands now, the Air Force plans to put the B-52 with the new AN/APQ-188 through a series of ground and flight tests in the next year. An initial round of system functional checks was conducted before the plane was flown to Edwards, according to Boeing’s release.
Following the successful completion of the testing at Edwards, the Air Force will make a formal decision regarding the start of series production of the radars for integration on the rest of the B-52 fleet. The service has said most recently that it expects to reach initial operational capability with the AN/APQ-188 on the B-52 sometime in the 2028 to 2030 timeframe.
“This phase of the program is dedicated to getting it right at the start so that we can execute the full radar modernization program,” Troy Dawson, Vice President of the Boeing Bombers division, said in a statement.
A major step in that direction has now been achieved with the arrival of the first B-52 to feature the AN/APQ-188 at Edwards.
Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com