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Too Late to Matter? The B-52J upgrade program faces significant delays, with the new Rolls-Royce F130 engines not ready until 2033—three years past the initial 2030 timeline.

-This delay raises questions about the bomber’s utility, especially as the B-21 Raider stealth bomber progresses on schedule. While the B-52J’s updates include radar, communication, and navigation enhancements, these are years behind schedule, prompting scrutiny from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

-Critics suggest reallocating funds from the B-52J program to accelerate B-21 procurement.

-The delays highlight inefficiencies, sparking calls for cost-cutting reforms led by GAO and potential future oversight from the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

B-52J Delays Spark Debate: Should Funds Shift to the B-21 Raider?

This is the proverbial good news-bad news situation with the B-52J. The good news is that the new engine for the vaunted old bomber passed a critical review phase. The bad news is that the entire engine replacement project will take another three years past 2030. 

Will the U.S. Air Force still need this bomber in eight years? The answer is yet to be determined because the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber is on time and budget and is already flying. 

The Air Force may want to forego some of the B-52J’s upgrade checklist and pour the saved, re-programmed money into the B-21. 

Let’s take a closer look at the status of the B-52J to see if all this attention is worth it and if there could be some cost savings. 

The new Rolls-Royce F130 engine is a needed addition to the B-52J. It will create more power and range and bring the B-52J into the 21st century. The Air Force believes that the F130 powerplant can be more fully developed with the test and evaluation phase underway, giving engineers and designers valuable installation data.

A B-52H Stratofortress is prepared for fight at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Oct. 25, 2021. The last B-52H built was delivered in Oct. 1962. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Wright)

The F130 had to pass this review because of the delay with the upgrade program. Rolls-Royce is confident that the engine will be delivered by 2033.

The review of the F130 “is the culmination of over two years of detailed design work and close collaboration between teams at Rolls-Royce, the Air Force, and Boeing,” according to a company press release.

Two Years Elapsed Is Unsatisfactory

The unfortunate part about the Rolls-Royce statement is that if you look closely, the firm admits that the review work has taken two years already, and the engines haven’t been replaced. File this under “Are you serious?”

That is way too long for such an important project. 

The B-52J is a significant leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. Plus, the vast airplane can launch modern munitions, which makes it valuable.

Air and Space Forces magazine wrote that “the overall B-52J upgrade—which includes new radars, new engine pylons, internal wiring, a digital backbone, communications, navigation, other improvements, and overall integration—is years behind schedule.”

That is the part that gets under my skin. The radar, communications, and navigation updates will probably be as difficult to replace as the engines. It is unacceptable that this work has taken so long to complete.

Government Watchdog Starts Growling

That’s why the diligent watchdogs over at the U.S. Government Accountability Office smelled weakness and sunk their teeth into an investigation last year. The GAO revealed that the original estimate for the update process should be done in 2030. 

B-52 Bomber from U.S. Air Force (2)

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress departs after being refueled by KC-135 Stratotanker over the Pacific Northwest July 18, 2024. The 92nd Air Refueling Wing and 141st ARW’s ability to rapidly generate airpower at a moment’s notice was put to the test when Air Mobility Command’s Inspector General team conducted a no-notice Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection, July 16–18, 2024. During the NORI, Airmen demonstrated how various capabilities at Fairchild AFB enable units to generate and provide, when directed, specially trained and equipped KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews to conduct critical air refueling of U.S. Strategic Command-assigned strategic bomber and command and control aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lawrence Sena)

Now, it is not going to be ready until 2033. That means eight more years of waiting.

The problem with this delay is that in 2033, the B-21 will be ready. The Air Force has planned to order 100 B-21s. This is a great airplane already. So, some defense analysts have called for anywhere between 170 and 200 B-21s – way over the estimated 100.

What would happen if the update program on the B-52J would just stop at the new engines? The Air Force could forego other work, take the money saved, and put it into the B-21. However, now that the service branch has endured so many delays, it may not be possible to cancel parts of the upgrade and re-program the savings.

In the past FY25 Defense Authorization Act, Congress earmarked $1 billion for the B-52J upgrade. Re-programming half those funds ($500 million) in a partial cancellation of the modernization program could likely buy another five B-21s. That doesn’t sound like much, and the B-21 may cost the Air Force more than $100 million apiece, but that extra funding could help keep the B-21 program going in out years.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: U.S. Military.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: U.S. Military.

Why This Whole Thing Makes Me Irritable

So, I’m a little frustrated that 1) there is a three-year delay to the B-52J upgrade program; 2) there is no plan to make it go quicker; 3) the Air Force seems to be unaware that it could trim the efforts to save time and money; and 4) there doesn’t seem to be an uproar in Congress that the some of the FY25 $1 billion expenditure could be re-programmed for something else.

The Air Force believes that the B-52J will have less maintenance with the new engines, but how much less?

Can this be quantified? Despite the engine replacement, such an old warbird will still have substantial undetermined downtime for other systems.

DOGE and GAO to the Rescue

I’m glad the GAO has taken an interest in this B-52J upgrade program, and it will likely arouse the attention of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency office (DOGE). DOGE should employ many cost-cutting defense analysts to shine some light on upgrades that are behind schedule and over budget. 

The B-52J is a good place to start. Let’s get creative with saving money. Many people associate cost-cutting with canceling entire programs, but sometimes you can “pop the hood” and make your repairs without going to an expensive mechanic who takes too long and costs too much. 

GAO and DOGE may be the “mechanics” for the B-52J’s woes.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.