Air Force B-52 Engine Replacement Program Passes Critical Design Review, Now Expected to Cost $15 Billion

The Air Force’s B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program cleared its critical design review, the service announced on May 4. Boeing is scheduled to begin modifying the first two B-52H aircraft into the B-52J configuration later in 2026 at its San Antonio facility.

The Commercial Engine Replacement Program will replace the eight Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans on each B-52H with Rolls-Royce F130 engines.

There are 76 B-52Hs in the active fleet. The original TF33 engines are from the early 1960s, and the Air Force says the TF33 engines will be unsustainable beyond 2030. The F130 engines offer better fuel efficiency, longer range, lower sustainment costs and additional electrical power.

The upgrade supports the Air Force plan to operate only the B-52J and B-21 Raider bombers. The B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit are planned to retire as B-21 deliveries increase. The B-52 is expected to fly into the 2050s, with some B-52 airframes reaching nearly 100 years of service.

The Air Force launched CERP in 2018 and selected the F130 engine in 2021 after a competition that included GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce. The F130 engine is built in Indianapolis and is derived from Rolls-Royce’s BR725 engine, which powers the Gulfstream G650 business jet. The BR725 has accumulated more than one million flying hours since entering service in 2012.

“This CERP critical design review is the culmination of an enormous amount of engineering and integration work from Boeing, Rolls Royce, and the Air Force that will enable the B-52J to remain in the fight for future generations,” Lt. Col. Tim Cleaver, the program manager within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Bombers Directorate, said.

” Jamie Burgess, vice president and general manager of Boeing Mobility, Surveillance & Bombers, said CDR is a milestone that showcases the kinds of complex systems engineering, propulsion integration, structural analysis and electrical architecture challenges our teams get to dive into every day. The CDR milestone was originally scheduled to occur three years earlier.

Integration work on the first aircraft is set to begin in fiscal 2027. Modification of the second aircraft is set to begin in fiscal 2028. Ground and flight testing are scheduled for fiscal 2029. The Air Force targets initial operational capability in fiscal 2033, three years later than originally planned.

The Pentagon awarded Boeing a contract worth more than $2 billion in December 2025 to finish integration work and to modify and test the first two aircraft. The total program is now expected to cost roughly $15 billion. 6 billion.

A 2023 Director of Operational Test and Evaluation report warned that the program’s buying strategy carries significant risk. Two of the 76 B-52s will serve as test aircraft. The Air Force plans to award low-rate production contracts for 51 of the remaining 74 aircraft before operational testing finishes in fiscal 2032.

The B-52 fleet readiness mission capable rate fell from 59% in 2021 to 54% in fiscal 2024, according to data analyzed by Defense News. Defense News reported that the engine swap and broader B-52J upgrades are expected to reverse that trend.