RAF Fairford, United Kingdom. (March 20, 2025): An aircraft already older than most of its pilots is getting yet another lease on life. In this photo by Master Sergeant Chris Hibben, a B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron flies over Europe during a recent NATO exercise. The veritable Stratofortress is undergoing a major upgrade with the replacement of its aging and out-of-production Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines with Rolls-Royce F130 engines, an upgrade that will allow it to fly well into the 2050’s.

In 2021, the Air Force selected Rolls Royce to deliver over six hundred new engines for America’s fleet of  76 Boeing B-52H strategic bombers. The engines come from the Rolls-Royce's BR700 family, a line that has a stellar reputation after accumulating over thirty million flight hours. The company is conducting performance trials at its NASA Stennis Space Center site in southwest Mississippi and the engines will be built at the Rolls Royce manufacturing facility at Indianapolis, Indiana.

At a cost of approximately $15 billion, the new power plants are expected to improve fuel efficiency, require less maintenance, and be more environmentally friendly than previous engines. Other upgrades include a new radar suite, an improved communications system, and new cockpit displays.

Built by Boeing and in service since 1955, the B-52 can carry up to 70,000 pounds of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles without refueling. This mighty bomber has appeared above battlefields from Vietnam to the Middle East and continues to dominate the skies anywhere it flies.

The Air Force expects the first B-52Js with the new engines to be operational by 2033, with the entire fleet being modified by 2035. The F130 engines are expected to extend the life of the B-52 aircraft by up to thirty years.