B-52 Crashes, U.S. Military Radar Upgrade Plan May Be Delayed
The U.S. accident rate is approaching that of India. Following the crash of an F/A-18 "Hornet" fighter jet, another aircraft incident occurred on the 15th: a B-52 "Stratofortress" bomber crashed and exploded shortly after taking off from Edwards Air Force Base, located northeast of Los Angeles.
The cause of the aircraft accident is still under investigation. However, considering that the B-52 airframe has been discontinued for production, the U.S. Air Force now must source replacement parts or replenish lost aircraft by dismantling stored planes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base's "Boneyard" in Arizona. Therefore, aging components, metal fatigue, or mechanical failure are highly likely culprits behind this incident.
Notably, the B-52 that crashed this time was not an ordinary bomber—it was the first test aircraft to be fitted with a new active electronically scanned array radar (AN/APQ-188), which completed its retrofit last November.
According to earlier reports from U.S. media, the B-52 radar modernization program itself is already facing serious delays: "The flight testing originally scheduled for fiscal year 2024 has been postponed to fiscal year 2026, and this delay has pushed back the timeline for achieving combat capability with the new radar-equipped B-52s from fiscal year 2027 to fiscal year 2028 or even later."
Now, this one-of-a-kind test aircraft has been completely destroyed. This not only means a direct loss of a bomber for the U.S. military but could also plunge the entire radar upgrade program into further delays.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868137136063488/
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