U.S. Air Force Awards Raytheon $603M for AN/APQ-188 Radar to Give B-52s New Edge in All-Weather Strike.

The U.S. Air Force is moving to equip its B-52 Stratofortress bombers with the AN/APQ-188 AESA radar under a $603 million Raytheon contract announced by the U.S. Department of War on August 25, 2026. The upgrade will strengthen the bomber’s ability to navigate, detect targets, and conduct long-range strike missions in poor weather while replacing an aging radar that is increasingly difficult to sustain.

The AN/APQ-188 replaces the mechanically scanned AN/APQ-166 with an electronically scanned sensor offering faster scanning, higher-resolution mapping, improved reliability, and more capable target detection and tracking. These gains will give the B-52 greater operational flexibility in contested environments and reinforce its role in U.S. long-range strike and strategic deterrence as the aircraft remains in service for decades.

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The $603 million AN/APQ-188 award advances a major B-52 modernization effort, giving the aging bomber a more capable AESA radar for all-weather navigation, mapping, and target tracking (Picture Source: U.S. Air Force / Edited By Army Recognition Group)

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of War announced that Raytheon had received a $603 million ceiling contract to produce and sustain the new AN/APQ-188 radar for the U.S. Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress fleet. Awarded on August 21, the contract moves a critical element of B-52 modernization toward sustained fleet implementation, replacing an increasingly difficult-to-support legacy radar with a modern Active Electronically Scanned Array, or AESA, sensor. Beyond maintenance, the upgrade is strategically important because it promises improved all-weather navigation, higher-resolution mapping, and more capable target detection and tracking for a bomber expected to remain a pillar of U.S. long-range strike and deterrence for decades.

$603 Million Award Advances B-52 Radar Modernization

The $603 million award is structured as an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covering both AN/APQ-188 production and sustainment. According to the Department of War contract notice, work will take place in Forrest, Mississippi; El Segundo, California; McKinney, Texas; and Warner Robins, Georgia, with completion expected by August 20, 2031. The sole-source acquisition includes an initial delivery order backed by $46.008 million in Fiscal Year 2026 aircraft procurement funding. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is managing contract FA8628-26-D-B001. The scale and duration of the agreement are significant: this is not simply another development contract, but an industrial and sustainment framework intended to support the radar as the Air Force advances the B-52 modernization program.

At the center of the effort is the AN/APQ-188, which replaces the B-52’s aging mechanically scanned AN/APQ-166 radar. Boeing describes the new system as a B-52-specific variant of the AN/APG-79 AESA family already associated with modern U.S. combat aircraft, adapted for the bomber’s unique long-range mission requirements. AESA technology electronically steers radar energy rather than relying on the continual mechanical movement of a traditional antenna, providing faster scanning, improved reliability and considerably greater flexibility in how the sensor is employed. The U.S. Air Force has repeatedly identified radar replacement as one of the most important upgrades in the B-52’s history because the legacy equipment is increasingly difficult to sustain and limits the effectiveness of an aircraft otherwise carrying increasingly sophisticated weapons and communications systems.

AN/APQ-188 Expands All-Weather Detection, Mapping and Target Tracking

The AN/APQ-188 promises to change what B-52 crews can detect, map and prosecute. Boeing has identified improved navigation accuracy, high-resolution mapping, and enhanced target detection and tracking among the principal capabilities of the new radar. The Pentagon’s Director, Operational Test and Evaluation has additionally described the system as providing high-resolution ground mapping for more accurate target location as well as the ability to track moving surface and airborne targets. For a strategic bomber, those improvements are especially valuable during long-duration missions conducted at night, through poor weather or across large areas where crews must rapidly establish an accurate picture of the battlespace. Better radar-derived information can strengthen target identification and weapon-employment decisions while reducing dependence on favorable environmental conditions.

The result is a B-52 better suited to the demanding all-weather strike environment envisioned for future U.S. operations. Army Recognition reported in December 2025 that the first radar-modernized B-52 had entered testing at Edwards Air Force Base, describing the transition as an important step toward improving targeting speed, reliability and all-weather combat capability. That report also highlighted mission-system changes accompanying the radar, including increased processing power, large high-definition navigator displays and fighter-style controls designed to reduce crew workload. The U.S. Air Force similarly states that AESA technology will increase situational awareness and navigation and targeting capability in higher-threat environments, while allowing additional functions to be introduced through future software modifications. This adaptability is particularly important because the threats faced by the bomber fleet in the 2030s and 2040s will continue to evolve.

Modernized B-52 Strengthens Future U.S. Long-Range Strike Operations

The AN/APQ-188 reinforces the B-52’s transformation from a Cold War bomber into a highly networked long-range weapons carrier. Modern U.S. bomber operations increasingly depend on the ability to operate at extended distances, maintain precise navigation and targeting awareness, and employ standoff weapons against land and maritime objectives without requiring the aircraft to penetrate every layer of an adversary’s air-defense network. DOT&E identifies the modernized B-52 mission as long-range, all-weather conventional and nuclear strike against ground and maritime targets, while the Air Force has explicitly described the new radar as an enabler for long-range standoff operations. Improved surface-target tracking and high-resolution mapping could become particularly relevant during operations across enormous theaters such as the Indo-Pacific, where maritime targets, dispersed infrastructure and long engagement distances place exceptional demands on sensors and mission planning.

The radar award also has meaning beyond the sensor itself because it supports the broader emergence of the extensively modernized B-52 force that will operate alongside the B-21 Raider. New radar, F130 engines, updated mission systems, communications improvements and continued integration of advanced weapons are intended to preserve the B-52 as a complementary platform capable of carrying large weapon loads over intercontinental distances. The Radar Modernization Program has faced technical integration and cost pressures, with the Pentagon’s operational test office reporting that the Air Force restructured elements of the effort around a minimum viable product approach following earlier program difficulties. The new Raytheon production-and-sustainment contract nevertheless demonstrates that Washington continues to invest heavily in preserving the B-52’s combat relevance rather than accepting technological obsolescence in a platform central to U.S. strategic airpower.

The $603 million AN/APQ-188 award represents far more than the replacement of an old radar. It provides the B-52 fleet with the foundation for substantially improved all-weather navigation and targeting, high-resolution ground mapping, enhanced detection and tracking of surface and airborne targets, greater sensor reliability and an architecture capable of evolving through software. Combined with the bomber’s exceptional range, large weapons capacity and continuing modernization, these capabilities strengthen the United States’ ability to generate credible long-range conventional and nuclear combat power across multiple theaters. As the B-21 enters service, the modernized B-52 will remain a different but highly complementary instrument of American airpower: a proven global strike platform increasingly equipped with the sensors, weapons and mission systems required for deterrence and high-end operations well into the middle of the century.

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.

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