Will the B52 be the first combat aircraft to be operational for 100 years?

Absolutely be there for 100 years and one of the best "values for money" ever.

The first B-52s rolled off the assembly line in 1952. It saw it's first combat operations in Vietnam conducting "Arc Light" bombing missions. 742 were created, 85 remain with plenty of spares in storage. This platform not only dropped tons of bombs, but had a nuclear mission as well and later were modified to carry Air Launched Cruise Missiles and heaps more ordinance. Having said that, it's most important and greatest mission was "close air support" of our Marines during the siege of the Khe Sahn iin 1968.

"Operation Niagara" was the destruction of enemy targets conducting siege operations. In that end, those BUFFs dropped 98,721 tons of ordinance on the enemy. That's like dropping the USS Enterprise on them.

They'll keep maintaining those airframes and upgrading the avionics and there have already been 3 generation aircrews - Father, son and grandson flying them. No reason to mess with success. During peace-time it also does Long range Search & Rescue & drug interdiction. Great platform.

I knew a nav on one that was flying the same bird his father was the pilot of in the eighties, whose grandfather was the crew chief of in the sixties. It's an amazing plane. I heard rumors of replacing the engines with newer, more powerful, fuel efficient ones, supposedly the fuel cost savings over the lifetime would pay for themselves while offering more speed, altitude, and range. It's a lovely idea.

I worked on the B-52G in the early '90's and it was an impressive aircraft. And I know that some of them served in the later stages of Vietnam along with serving in Desert Storm. It was and still is the only plane that can carry all different types of munitions that have been developed.

There is a story that the enemy is more afraid of the B-52 than they are of the B-1 and B-2. Both in Vietnam and Desert Storm prisoners talked about the B-52 and what it did to them psychologically. Of course the best story was during Desert Storm. An Iraqi General surrendered his entire division. When asked why he surrendered. He said "it was because of the B-52." The interrogator told him that the B-52 didn't strike his area. He replied "I know, but I saw an area that was." Now that was a smart commanding officer who did not want to be on the receiving end of the Big Stick of the mighty B-52.