Initial operating capability is currently slated for the mid-2020s, with full operating capability in the 2030 timeframe, he added.ĭavis would not comment on how much the re-engine program might cost, but said the service expects to save money in the long run by replacing the engines instead of building a new aircraft. The Air Force hopes to release a request for proposals within the next fiscal year, Davis said. An additional $943 million was requested through 2023. The service requested over $65 million in its fiscal year 2019 presidential budget document to complete the technology maturation and risk reduction phase, and potentially reach a Milestone B decision and begin the engineering and manufacturing development phase by the end of the fiscal year. Discussions have been ongoing over several decades about buying new engines, but have until now been tamped down based on budget constraints and the Air Force’s indecision about retiring the aircraft, he added. The current engines are original to the H models, the last of which came off the manufacturing line in 1962, Davis said. “It’s not as simple as pulling one engine and putting a new one in.” “It affects more than just the engines,” he said, adding that the aircraft’s wiring and electrical systems will be impacted. Global Strike Command is currently working with acquisition leaders as well as the service’s system program office to develop a strategy to buy the new engines, Davis noted. “We have got 76 of them, which is the most of any of the bombers that we have, and we are able to go out there and be in all theaters almost at the same time,” he added.Īs the service has begun a series of improvements, one of the most costly efforts will be to replace all of the B-52 fleet’s engines to keep the aircraft flying for at least another 30 years.Īir Force budget documents state that the current engine, Pratt & Whitney’s TF33-PW-103, “is increasingly difficult to sustain due to diminished manufacturing sources and obsolescent technologies.” The Air Force Propulsion Directorate projects the engine will become unsustainable by 2030, it added. With the advent of conventional cruise missiles beginning in the 1980s and GPS-guided weapons in the 1990s, the platform moved into the close-in fight, dropping joint direct attack munitions, or JDAMs, and laser-guided bombs, Davis noted. The aircraft’s mission has evolved since it was first fielded in the 1950s, when it initially served as a nuclear delivery platform. ![]() “It can carry a wide variety of munitions … anything from a nuclear weapon all the way down to leaflet ‘bombs’ that just dispense messages out.” ![]() “It was built a long time ago, it was built to a very good specification - over-engineered, some may say,” he told National Defense. ![]() Jacob Davis, chief B-52 requirements officer at Global Strike Command. The B-52H has a robust airframe and flexible mission capabilities for both conventional and nuclear warfare, which has allowed it to keep flying as much younger aircraft are retired, said Maj. The service currently possesses 76 of the long-range subsonic strategic bombers, split between Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, and operated by the service’s Global Strike Command as well as Air Force Reserve Command. The iconic B-52 airframes first came off the production line more than six decades ago. The Air Force has begun a series of major upgrades to its oldest aircraft - the B-52H Stratofortress - to keep the fleet viable until about 2050.
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