---
title: "B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J"
date: "2024-06-14"
modified: "2024-06-14"
authors:
  - name: "Tyler Rogoway"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway"
url: "https://www.twz.com/news-features/b-52-future-stratofortress-the-upgrades-that-will-transform-the-b-52h-into-the-b-52j"
categories:
  - "Air"
  - "Air Forces"
  - "B-52"
  - "Bombers"
  - "Military Aviation History"
  - "News & Features"
  - "U.S. Air Force"
  - "Video"
---

# B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/B-52J.webp>)
*USAF*

The [B-52 Stratofortress](<https://www.twz.com/category/b-52>) is a plane that really needs no introduction. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s smoky. It’s also incredibly old. So old that the last airframes to roll off the production line [took to the skies in the early 1960s](<https://www.twz.com/a-look-back-at-all-the-b-52-variants-as-the-iconic-bomber-hits-70>), right in the thick of the Cold War. Despite its age, the plane commonly known as “The BUFF” [remains a dependable and capable](<https://www.twz.com/43043/confessions-of-a-b-52-crew-chief>) long-range bomber for the U.S. Air Force.

As the B-52H enters its seventh decade of service, there are no plans to retire the type. As [we have discussed](<https://www.twz.com/rolls-royce-offers-peek-at-the-b-52s-new-engines-undergoing-testing>) regularly for years now, the U.S. Air Force has laid out a host of upgrades that will see a jet designed with slide rules become a networked, high-tech, multi-role, long-range platform of the future…and potentially serving for over a century. This deeply revamped Stratofortress that will serve alongside the [B-21 Raider](<https://www.twz.com/category/b-21>) will be known as the [B-52J](<https://www.twz.com/23171/air-force-offers-first-details-of-future-plans-for-an-upgraded-b-52j-bomber>).

As we sit on the precipice of yet another act in the B-52's long and fascinating career, we decided to wrangle all of the upgrade initiatives into one in-depth explainer video that details the[ modernization makeover](<https://www.twz.com/our-first-look-at-what-fully-upgraded-b-52-bombers-will-look-like>) that will transform the B-52H into the B-52J.

*Contact the author: [tyler@thedrive.com](<mailto:tyler@thedrive.com>)*

## Author
Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel>)