The first B-52 bomber equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar system has reached Edwards Air Force Base, California, bringing fighter-style radar capabilities to the Air Force’s 65-year-old strategic bomber fleet. Boeing delivered the modified aircraft following installation of the APQ-188 radar system at its San Antonio facility, with the ferry flight completed on Dec. 8.
A crew from the 49th Test Evaluation Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards transferred the aircraft to the 412th Test Wing. The test team will conduct ground and flight test activities throughout 2026 to enable a production decision later in the year.
The aircraft is fitted with an APQ-188 active electronically scanned array radar system that replaces the B-52’s antiquated and failing legacy AN/APQ-166 analog radar. The new system is a modified version of the AN/APG-79 radar used on the F-15 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft. According to Boeing, the upgrade will provide all-weather navigation and targeting capability for the 65-year-old strategic bomber.
“The new radar will significantly increase B-52 mission effectiveness by improving situational awareness, speeding target prosecution and enhancing aircrew survivability in contested environments,” said Troy Dawson, vice president of Boeing Bombers. The Radar Modernization Program includes two Display and System Sensor Processors as mission computers to integrate the radar with B-52 systems, along with two large 8×20-inch high-definition touchscreens at the navigator and radar navigator stations for radar imagery, control and legacy displays, and two fighter-like hand controllers for radar operation.
The program has faced financial challenges. The Radar Modernization Program experienced a “significant” Nunn-McCurdy cost breach of approximately 17 percent, increasing total program costs from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion. The Nunn-McCurdy Act requires the services to notify Congress when a program’s cost or schedule estimate increases substantially from its approved baseline.
Darlene Costello, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told a House Armed Services subcommittee in May that she is “pretty confident” the program will not reach the critical 25 percent threshold that would require Defense Department certification or cancellation. The Air Force is reviewing options to reduce the program’s scope and has refined requirements to focus on essential capabilities needed by Air Force Global Strike Command.
The radar modernization is one element of the comprehensive transformation of the B-52H into the B-52J configuration. The aircraft’s nose will be streamlined to house the new radar, losing the blisters that currently contain the forward-looking infrared and electro-optical viewing systems. Those functions will migrate to the radar or to Litening or Sniper targeting pods that the B-52 can carry on a wing pylon.
The fleet of 76 B-52 aircraft is also scheduled to receive new F130 engines built by Rolls-Royce North America, an updated cockpit, and communications system upgrades. The system features upgraded cooling, providing liquid cooling for the radar and engine bleed-air heating for very cold conditions. The modifications are designed to extend the aircraft’s service life through 2050 and potentially beyond, allowing it to operate alongside the Air Force’s newest strategic bomber, the B-21 Raider.
“The ferry flight of this upgraded B-52 marks an important moment in our efforts to modernize the bomber force,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “This radar modernization ensures that the B-52 will continue to serve as a cornerstone of American airpower well into the future.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said the milestone ensures future airmen inherit a modernized force. “The B-52 Radar Modernization Program is about more than technology, it’s about readiness, deterrence and the ability to fight and win,” Wilsbach said.
The program timeline calls for an initial operational capability in 2027. A low-rate initial production decision covering 28 of the Air Force’s B-52s is planned for late fiscal 2026, with a full-rate production decision for the remaining 46 aircraft to follow initial operational test and evaluation in fiscal 2028. At least some B-52 aircraft are expected to be operational with the new radar by the end of the decade.
Data gathered during testing at Edwards will inform subsequent developmental test phases and the planned retrofit of the entire operational B-52 fleet. “This phase of the program is dedicated to getting it right at the start so that we can execute the full radar modernization program,” Dawson said.
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