Overview
- The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center said it completed the critical design review for the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program, clearing the way to start aircraft modifications.
- Boeing will upgrade the first two B-52Hs at its San Antonio site with new systems and Rolls-Royce F130 engines, with the first aircraft scheduled to arrive for work later in 2026.
- After those two jets are modified, the Air Force will send them to Edwards Air Force Base in California for extensive flight testing to validate the new engines and avionics.
- Rolls-Royce supplies the F130 engines, which it has been testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and the company said the completed design keeps the program on track.
- The overhaul, which redesignates the bomber as the B-52J, adds digital cockpit controls, higher-capacity power generators, new radar, landing gear, avionics, and weapons upgrades, with re-engining projected to cost about $15 billion after a more than $2 billion contract awarded in December 2025.