Known within the USAF as the “BUFF” (Big Ugly Fat Fella), the B-52 is the longest-serving frontline warplane in history. First flown in 1952, it became the backbone or the ‘big stick’ of Americas nuclear preparedness.  Flown by the Strategic Air Command for decades on nuclear alert, its only combat use has been with massive conventional bombing in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The B-52G model, as pictured in this painting, flew the longest combat mission in history during Operation Desert Storm, from Louisiana to the Middle East.