As the Air Force prepares to modify two B-52H bombers later this year for the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP), the bomber directorate’s contracting office will meet with contractors interested in supplying support equipment to install new engines.
The Office at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., will meet with contractors interested in supplying support equipment for the installation of the new Rolls-Royce F130 engines. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Air Force is holding industry days at Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla.
Envisioned tasks include “production kits and related support work such as program and manufacturing management, integrated logistics support, field service representative support, travel, spare parts, peculiar support equipment, production tooling, common support equipment, data, and over-and-above labor and materials for multiple kit groups and period options,” according to the Air Force.
The two discussion days are “an opportunity for industry to ask questions, provide feedback on the draft statement of work, and for the government to better understand the current market capabilities [for the kits and Integrated Change Set],” the service said.
The dual-capable B-52 bomber delivers the Long Range Standoff cruise missile, which carries the W80-4 warhead. The National Nuclear Security Administration is refurbishing the W80-4 warhead through a life extension program.
The Air Force said its approval of B-52 CERP in a recent Critical Design Review allows for the modification of the two B-52Hs with the F130 this year.
The more powerful F130 engines are to replace the B-52H’s eight Pratt & Whitney engines. Under the Radar Modernization Program for the B-52H, an active electronically scanned array radar based on RTX’s APG-79 is to replace the bomber’s Northrop Grumman APQ-166. After the CERP and Radar Modernization Program upgrades, the B-52Hs are to become B-52Js.
The last B-52H fielded in October 1962, and while the Air Force looks to field 100 or more Northrop Grumman B-21 stealth bombers to replace the service’s B-1s and B-2s, the future path for the B-52 is still under consideration.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.