Billion-Dollar Birds: Exploring the World's Largest and Most Expensive Military Planes

13. Stratofortress B-52

Joined the Service in 1955 Not retired: N/A Price: * $14.43 million 1952 saw the inaugural flight of the B-52 Stratofortress, which was later introduced to NASA and the USAF in the mid-1950s. 744 have been built thus far. Originally intended to be a straight-wing aircraft with six engines, the B-52 currently features eight turbo-jet engines with spread wings. The Cold War saw the construction of the B-52.

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B-52 Stratofortress | Youtube.com / MOTORIZADO During the Cold War, Boeing first designed the B-52 to carry nuclear weapons on deterrent missions. Thus yet, the B-52 has only ever dropped conventional—not nuclear—munitions during combat. Rarely is the term "Stratofortess" used; the official Air Force moniker for the B-52 is "B.U.F.F."