F130 Engine May Sustain Classic B-52 Life to 100-Years
Kris Osborn
Warrior C-UAS Series Episode 2
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
The most recent development 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.
Rolls-Royce, Boeing, and the Air Force achieved a significant milestone and 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 explains
Rolls-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 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.
F-130 advantages
https://warriormaven.com/news/air/new-b-52-f130-engine-may-sustain-classic-b-52-life-to-100-years
