The Air Force's B-52 Bomber: Dropping Bombs for 100 Years?

David Axe

Security,

It could happen. 

The Air Force tapped Boeing to integrate the new motors. Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce all have proposed engine types for the B-52 effort. The Air Force in 2017 stated it would test new engines on two B-52s as early as 2022, select a contractor before 2026 and complete the re-engining project before 2034.

Sixty-seven years after the U.S. Air Force received its last B-52 from Boeing, the flying branch finally has firmed up plans to fit the heavy bomber with new engines.

Air Force magazine in its January 2019 issue took a deep dive into the re-engining effort.

"If Air Force plans hold up, the B-52 will be approaching nearly a century of service by 2050," reporter John Tirpak wrote. "To keep the airplane flying, the service plans to equip each B-52 with new engines, which are expected to be so much more maintainer-friendly and efficient that they’ll pay for themselves in just 10 years."

In addition to new motors, the 76 B-52s in Air Force service also could get upgraded avionics, defensive gear, sensors and ejection seats, War Zone reporter Joe Trevithick revealed. The re-engined, enhanced bombers could receive the new designation B-52J.

In 2018, the Air Force announced it would retire its 62 1980s-vintage B-1Bs bombers and 20 newer B-2 stealth bombers no later than the 2040s, while the updated B-52s would continue to operate alongside at least 100 new B-21 stealth bombers.