The enduring effort to reengine the venerable B-52, a saga extending back to the 1970s, is poised to enter its final chapter in September when the U.S. Air Force is expected to approve a program to replace the engines on the long-serving bomber.The move, if sanctioned, is likely to be executed under a recently adopted Pentagon "rapid-prototyping" acquisition policy and follows Air Force warnings in 2017 that the bomber's obsolescent Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines will not be sustainable beyond 2030. Reengining also would come as the aircraft's role as a future launch platform for long-range standoff and hypersonic weapons becomes increasingly key to U.S. long-range strike capability.Combined with the growing urgency over supportability of the TF33, a military variant of Pratt's late-1950sJT3D turbofan, and recognition that the life of the B-52 would be extended to 2050 and beyond to help counter emerging long-range strike threats, the program has been gathering momentum since 2016. In its fiscal 2019 budget request, the Air Force called for $280 million to update the B-52H fleet, of which $64.5 million is earmarked for the start of the reengining program.Having rejected the results of earlier studies on replacing the B-52H's eight 17,000-lb.-thrust TF33s with four 35,000-lb.-thrust high-bypass-ratioturbofans, the Air Force has briefed industry on its requirement for modern, fuel-efficient commercial engines that can replace the old units on a one-for-one basis. Under the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP), the service needs 650 engines, including 42 spares, to upgrade its operational fleet of 76 B-52s. Twenty additional powerplants will be needed initially for the retrofit of two bombers for flight testing.
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