B-52

At the zenith of the second half of the century, a B-52, loaded with atomic bombs and rockets, circles at a great elevation, unreachably distant and nearly invisible, and yet close enough to cast the shadow of a wraithlike threat upon everything that exists below and has recently existed: indecisively wavering between war and peace, between a deterrent strategy and aggression.

The B-52 was designed in 1947 as a vehicle for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and it is still in service today, 50 years after its invention. No type of airplane has been in service for so long, and there are plans to convert it in such a way that it can be used for another 30 years.

Whenever new strategic concepts for defence, deterrent and attack have been drafted and modernised, the aircraft was always at the centre of considerations. The B-52 is the only aircraft that a manufacturer has been able to sell three times to the American air force, according to a sarcastic comment.