If longevity is the ultimate measure of success, few aircraft in the history of aviation can claim being as successful as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, last in the line of the legendary "Fortress" series of Boeing-built bombers and currently one of the triad of US strategic bombers. Its original requirement originated as early as 1945 (while World War II was still raging) and went through various different development concepts until settling on the now-familiar massive swept-wing design with eight-engines and double-tandem undercarriage. Despite the introduction of the B-47, there was still great interest in developing the B-52, partly under the urging of the then commander of the Strategic Air Command, Curtis LeMay. The B-52 incorporated many of the technological advances introduced in the B-47, such as the large swept-wings and the engines being housed in pods under the wings. The B-52 introduced a side-by-side cockpit arrangement which replaced the fighter-style tandem cockpit found in the B-47 and also in the B-52 prototypes. The B-52 was also considerably larger than its predecessor which necessitated a redesign of airbase facilities to accommodate the new aircraft. Despite the fact that its service life was scheduled to be brief due to the emergence of new jet technologies, the B-52 slowly became the mainstay of the US Strategic Bomber Command during the Cold War to the point that it equipped well over 30 SAC wings at its peak in the 1970s when dozens of these bombers were on permanent alert around the USSR in the event of a nuclear showdown. Impressively, the entire production run of over 700 aircraft was undertaken in less than a decade. B-52s played a prominent role during the Vietnam War where they made numerous raids over North Vietnam culminating in Operation Linebacker II (1972) which led to the Paris peace talks. Despite their formidable capability for carpet bombing, 31 aircraft were lost to all causes during the war. Later variants became re-equipped with stand-off nuclear missiles. Given the immaturity of the B-1 as a conventional bomber at the time, the B-52 became the main strategic bomber in use during the Gulf War (where one aircraft set a 35-hour flight record), and saw further action in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as the Libya and Syria interventions where their range enabled them to loiter over the battlefield, in effect turning them into close support aircraft (a role unlikely to have ever been envisioned by its original designers). Today, the B-52 remains in service with the USAF in wider numbers than any other strategic bomber, with an unprecedented service life deemed likely to last up to the year 2050 until replaced by the B-21 Raider.

Two prototypes were built by Boing, the XB-52 and YB-52. It was the latter which first flew on 15 April 1952, the first few production aircraft were designated B-52A but the first major variants were the B-52B and B-52C, both of which were dedicated nuclear bombers. The next generation of B-52s would feature extensive conventional bombing capabilities such as a "big belly" modification for the B-52D which gave it greater payload. Its successors, the B-52E and B-52F, had more advanced avionics and were among the first to see service in Vietnam. The final series of B-52s began with the B-52G, the most widely built version which was also the first to feature stand-off weapons capability, electronic counter-measures, as well as having a slightly revised airframe design which provided it with greater performance. B-52Gs were used extensively in the Gulf War where they were paired with the B-52H, the last variant built (and the only one which remains in service with the USAF) which differed from its predecessor mainly because of new TF33 engines: this new powerplant increased performance considerably while subsequent revisions would allow it to carry the latest range of US precision weapons. Lastly, the only major non-combat variant was the RB-52B reconnaissance aircraft.