The cause of the deadly crash is under investigation.
The US Air Force Boeing B-52H bomber that crashed at Edwards AFB on 15 June was being used to test a new radar upgrade for the iconic eight-engined jet.
The incident at the base in California’s high desert, a primary USAF flight test hub, killed all eight people aboard, including military personnel, government civilian workers and two Boeing staff.
Colonel James Hayes, deputy commander of the USAF’s 412th Test Wing, confirmed on 16 June that the aircraft was at Edwards as part of the B-52 radar upgrade programme.
“It was a B-52 that was on initial take-off, supporting the Radar Modernization Program,” Hayes said from the Edwards flight line.
“It was a local test sortie,” he adds. “It took off and, immediately after take-off crashed and burst into flames.”
The air force described the incident as “unsurvivable” in the hours after the crash. An investigation into the cause remains ongoing.
Details of the fatal flight’s profile have not been released by the USAF. Hayes says the crash was “totally contained” within the runway area of Edwards.
On 17 June, the air force released the names of the deceased crew, which included two active duty test pilots from the USAF’s 419th Flight Test Squadron. Test pilots are typically among the USAF’s most experienced and qualified.
A third pilot from Boeing was also onboard, along with flight test engineers and weapon systems officers from both Boeing and the air force.
Although the air force has not identified the specific bomber involved in the incident, a B-52H bearing tail number 60-0061 was transferred to Edwards AFB in December as part of the Radar Modernisation Program.
That jet was ferried from Boeing’s MRO facility in San Antonio, where it had been outfitted with Raytheon’s new AN/APQ-188 active electronically scanned array radar.
That developmental radar is meant to replace the current Northrop Grumman AN/APQ-166 mechanically scanned sensor fielded on the B-52 fleet.
The USAF has described the Northrop system as “antiquated and failing”.
The new AN/APQ-188 offers improved targeting and all-weather navigation. It is based on Raytheon’s widely used AN/APG-79 radar, also found on Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growler electronic attack fighters.
Air force secretary Troy Meink, the service’s top civilian official, previously called the radar upgrades crucial to ensuring B-52s can operate alongside fighters and bombers currently being developed.
“We are committed to extending the life of this vital platform, allowing it to operate alongside next-generation fighter and bomber aircraft,” Meink said when the 188-equipped test B-52H was delivered to Edwards late last year.
A fully modernised B-52 configuration, which is delayed until the 2030s, has been dubbed the B-52J and includes new Rolls-Royce F130 engines, updated communications for conventional and nuclear missions, new crew compartments and improved avionics.
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