The B-52 should be refurbished in September to reach almost a century of life of the aircraft and be ready for the first war
The US Air Force plans to make a decision on upgrading aging B 52 bombers by September, with the installation of new engines that would significantly extend the aircraft's operational life. This project is called Milestone B and will allow the Commercial Engine Replacement Program to move from prototyping to production status.
Rolls-Royce and Boeing are working to replace the B-52H's existing decades-old TF33 engines, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, with new F130 engines. Thus the Cold War-era bomber, the newest of which entered service in 1962, will be able to fly until 2050 as the B-52J. Recall that the development of the B52 began in 1952, more than 70 years ago!
Hunter said the new commercially derived B-52 engines will be able to use a wider supply chain than current TF33 engines, which fail frequently and have parts availability issues. The Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) will also upgrade the B-52's flight systems, controls and displays, Hunter said.
Another planned upgrade to modernize the B-52's radar will "drastically" improve the bomber's tactical situational awareness and its ability to accurately hit targets, it added. The communications upgrades are also intended to increase the bombers' ability to exchange data and collaborate with other aircraft or Air Force units to strike targets.
“It's all three programs working together,” Hunter said. "When you look closely, this is a near complete overhaul of the B-52's tactical systems, and this is what will allow it to perform well in the future."
Part of CERP's current rapid prototyping effort has involved creating a digital twin of the new engine to test it and pinpoint problems before the engines are physically built. Hunter said this digital prototyping work has "greatly reduced the risks of the program."
Hunter told lawmakers that as part of this testing effort, Rolls-Royce has placed a pair of F130 engines in a pod that simulates the pylons they will hang from on the B-52 and has conducted performance trials of the engines . These tests have provided insight into the performance of the engines and the type of vibrations they create during operation. Once Milestone B is complete, Hunter said, CERP will become an official acquisition program.
Lieutenant General Richard Moore, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said that in the event of war against China, penetration of Chinese airspace would be up to the B 21 Raiders, the most modern aircraft of the US , while the B 52s would be used for remote weapon launches. Furthermore, the general said that the air force has not yet decided whether to start from scratch with a project to replace the B 52, while the development and acquisition of a new in-flight refueling system has certainly been accelerated.
The tendency of the Air Force, also for economic reasons, by now not to replace the cells, but to continuously change and update the weapon systems. For this reason, we will probably see the B 52 flying up to almost the century of life of the project.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles from Economic Scenarios.
The article The B-52 should be renewed in September to reach almost a century of life of the aircraft and be ready for the first war comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-b-52-dovrebbe-essere-rinnovato-a-settembre-per-arrivare-a-quasi-un-secolo-di-vita-dellaereo-ed-essere-pronti-alla-prissima-guerra/ on Mon, 24 Apr 2023 07:00:03 +0000.