As the B-52 fleet of 75 bombers enters its seventh decade of service, most of the aircraft’s modernization efforts–worth more than $20 billion–are facing risks, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
The report advises the Air Force to delay a production decision for the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) until the program analyzes recent cost growth and schedule delays in order to understand the risks behind approving CERP production.
That production decision is not scheduled until the first quarter of fiscal 2029, however, and the Air Force told GAO that such an analysis, whether it is done or not, should not delay the decision.
“Ten of the 13 B-52 modernizations are experiencing cost, schedule, or performance challenges,” the GAO report said. “The Air Force’s most expensive B-52 modernization effort, CERP, will likely continue to face significant challenges as the Air Force plans to begin production with little to no developmental flight testing. While the Air Force analyzed and accepted increased risks from this approach in 2023, since then CERP costs increased by about $3 billion and initial operational capability was delayed more than 15 months.”
“Department of Defense policy states cost estimates should consider risk and include an analysis that identifies and evaluates alternative courses of action that may reduce cost and risk,” according to the new GAO report, B-52 Bomber: Air Force Actions Needed to Improve Major Modernization and Sustainment Efforts (GAO-26-109272). “Reassessing these risks would better inform decision-makers as they consider when to begin production.”
CERP features the integration of more powerful Rolls-Royce F130 engines on the bomber to replace the B-52H’s eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-103s.
The integration of commercial designs on military platforms, in this case ensuring the F130 can perform over the entire flight profile of the B-52H, is a significant challenge. Engine inlet distortion–a variable flow of air that may affect engine performance–resulted in a redesign of the engine inlet and a resolution of the distortion in June of last year, according to the GAO.
CERP and the Radar Modernization Program (RMP) account for about $18 billion of the more than $20 billion of the Air Force’s planned B-52 modernization amount.
Since 2021, “RMP estimated acquisition costs have increased over 30% to more than $2.9 billion in 2025; planned production start has been delayed more than two years; and the B-52 program office has removed some of the program’s original performance requirements,” GAO said. “Like CERP, the RMP program faces risks of additional cost and schedule growth largely due to the Air Force’s concurrent approach to developmental testing and production.”
The Air Force is modifying a B-52H to resume RMP testing for the bomber after the fatal crash of the first RMP test aircraft on June 15.
RMP is to feature an active electronically scanned array radar based on RTX’s APG-79 to replace the bomber’s Northrop Grumman APQ-166.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.