B-52

B-52 is a documentary about the military plane of the same name. The aircraft was developed in 1947 as an extreme weapon in the fight for global hegemony and nuclear dominance. It was the first jet-propelled long-distance bomber that could be refuelled in flight, thus making it independent of overseas air bases. The plane was primarily built to transport atomic weapons. All stratospheric nuclear tests carried out by the US in the 1950s used bombs dropped by B-52's. In the early 1960s the plane was adapted for low-level flight and equipped with conventional bombs. It was used extensively in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and, more recently, in the Kosovo Conflict. Today, fifty years after making its first appearance, it is still in service. Indeed there is currently no other plane that can fulfil so many functions and carry so many different payloads. Although it is the product of comparatively old-fashioned military technology, the B-52 will in all likelihood remain in service for a further twenty or even thirty years.