Designed by Boeing Aircraft in October 1946 in response to an Army Air Corp request for a long-range bomber able to carry a 10,000-pound payload 3000 miles at 300 mph, the B-52 first flew on 15 April 1952. It is the only aircraft in the world with eight jet engines. The first B-52A was delivered in 1954 and the last B-52H in October 1962, and 744 B-52s were built for the USAF. For more than four decades, the B-52 has been the flagship bomber of the USAF. In the Gulf War, B-52s flew the longest strike mission in the history of aerial warfare, departing from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, launching conventional air launched cruise missiles over Iraq, and returning to base in a 35-hour nonstop combat mission. The aircraft can drop or launch the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory, including gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles, and joint direct attack munitions, and analysis has projected its lifespan beyond the year 2040. This B-52G, serial number 58-0185, was first assigned to the 4135th Strategic Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, in September 1959 and was last flown by the 2nd Bombardment Wing at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. While at Barksdale AFB, it flew missions during Desert Storm, when B-52s completed approximately 1,620 sorties and dropped almost a third of the entire tonnage of bombs dropped by U.S. aircraft.