When it comes to cost, the F130 also has the benefit of being an established in-production design. F130 is the military designation for Rolls-Royce’s popular BR700, thousands of examples of which power a variety of different business jets, as well as the Boeing 717 airliner. As such, U.S. military C-37A and B aircraft, designations applied to Gulfstream V and 550s, respectively, as well as the Air Force’s Bombardier BD-700-based E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft, already use versions of this engine, further simplifying maintenance and logistics chains.
Regardless, new engines of any kind are a major milestone in the B-52’s already impressively long career and will be critical to ensuring the bombers can continue to serve the Air Force for decades to come. The re-engining is just one of a number of upgrades these aircraft are expected to receive in the coming years, which you can read more about here. Their already diverse arsenal is also set to grow substantially, including with the addition of new hypersonic missiles.
All told, the addition of new F130 engines to the Air Force’s B-52Hs is one of, if not the most significant upgrade these aircraft have ever received and is a huge, long-awaited step forward toward this new phase of their service life.
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