By Kris Osborn, Warrior

The classic B-52 may fly for as long as 100 years, a staggering accomplishment which may not even surprise people, given the success of the upgrades the aircraft has received over the years. The Air Force is surging ahead with a new engine, a new “J” variant of the aircraft and plans for future operations possibly including launching drones, firing lasers and carrying new generations of weapons. 

The B-52 will fly with a new generation of air-dropped bombs and fly with new nuclear weapons such as the Long Range Standoff Weapon cruise missile and air dropped B-61 Mod 12 upgraded nuclear bomb. 

One of the most recent developments with continued B-52 improvement pertains to the well-known re-engining effort for the aircraft. For many years, the Air Force has been working with Boeing and Rolls-Royce to integrate a more powerful and efficient  F-130 engine for the B-52.

Perhaps the most critical element of the new F130 engine is that it is expected to add 30 years of life to the B-52. Years ago, senior Air Force weapons developers explained that, with some structural reinforcement and maintenance, older airframes can remain viable and highly operational for years beyond their anticipated lifespan. This appears to be the case with the B-52 because, although the aircraft is a Vietnam-era plane with a classic history, today’s B-52 is almost an entirely different aircraft due to the nature and extent of the upgrades. Within the last decade, the B-52 has received a communications technology overhaul, internal weapons bay reconfiguration, new weapons interfaces and also developed an ability to launch drones. A B-52 could also easily be configured to launch drone swarms from the air to achieve tactical surprise by blanketing an area with ISR, testing enemy air defenses or even attacking as mini explosives. 

New B-52 F130  Engine Surging 

Rolls-Royce, Boeing, and the Air Force completed a critical design review of the engine in early 2025. This development enabled ongoing testing to remain on track. Altitude testing of the new engine took place in February 2025 at the US Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee, Rolls Royce data explainsRolls-Royce further explained that the first phases of sea-level tests had also been completed, which helped solidify data analysis for the new engine. The success of the recent testing, according to Rolls-Royce, helped validate the F130 engine’s dual pod configuration as well. The engine is also built with a wide range of composite materials intended to increase reliability, improve weight distribution and improve thermal management or the regulation of heat from the engine. 

The new F130 engine is a critical element of the emerging US Air Force B-52J variant expected to continue flying into the coming decades. While some structural reinforcements were performed on the airframe, the aircraft received an entirely new suite of avionics, computing command and control technology, and weapons configurations. These B-52 upgrades have been underway for many years at this point, improvements that will significantly fortify the most recent and cutting-edge B-52J. 

B-52 Maintenance and Supply 

The new engines will be at least 30 percent more fuel efficient than the existing TF33s, something which will lower operational and maintenance costs and also enable more dwell time or time over targets on missions. This enables a B-52 crew to re-evaluate and change targets or mission objectives as needed for longer periods of time. The F-130s are built such that they will not need an engine overhaul during its lifespan, a fact which also increases operational efficiency and reduces long-term costs for the aircraft. 

F-130 technologies

Maintaining the F-130 engines will not require the Air Force to rely upon antiquated supply chains because they are based on commercial jet engine technology, so acquiring spare parts and streamlining supply chain operations becomes much more possible. Referred to as the Commercial Engine Replacement Program, the F-130 is a variant of Rolls Royce’s BR725 commercial engine. The new engine generates as much as 17,000 pounds of thrust, an amount much greater than the existing TF33 engines. 

Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University