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The B-52G made its first flight on 31 August 1958

August 31

A total of 193 were built, the largest number of any model of the B-52.

G MODEL MAJOR MODERNIZATIONS INCORPORATED

  • the “wet wing,” eliminating fuel bladders in favor of a sealed wing structure and adding more than 10,000 gallons of internal fuel

  • an eight-foot shorter vertical tail, and

  • moving the gunner from his separate pressurized tail compartment to the forward crew area, with radar and closed circuit TV operation of his guns.

  • Ailerons were eliminated and lateral control provided by wing spoilers

  • The large external wing tanks of earlier models were replaced by smaller, 700 gallon versions

  • A wide variety of internal changes were also made from new hydraulic and fuel management controls to enhanced crew comfort for long flights

  • The G-model was designed to be a missile platform as well as a gravity bomb carrier with the new GAM-77 (later AGM-28) Hound Dog as its intended standoff weapon and the GAM- 72 (ADM-20) Quail decoy missile to improve its defense penetration capability.

The B-52Gs were withdrawn from service in the early 1990s, with the last one being delivered to the salvage yard in Arizona on 5 May 1994. They were subsequently destroyed in compliance with the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of 1991.