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Researh Service


B-52 Re-Engining Program Begins



May 29, 2020
On May 19, 2020, the U.S. Air Force released a request for proposals to replace the TF33 engines
powering the B-52H Stratofortress bomber fleet with 608 new engines, in a contract running up to 17
years. The request does not give a dollar value for the contract, but the Air Force had previously estimated
the cost at S1.4 billion from FY2019 to FY2023.
The Air Force currently operates 76 B--52Hs, the most recent of which was built in the 1960s. The Air
Force now expects to operate them until 2050. The last TF33 engine was built in 1985. (For more on the
B-52 fleet, see CRS Report R43049, U.S. Air Force Bomber Sustainment and Modernization: Background
and Issues for Congress.)


Figure I. Engine Mounting on B-52


    Source: U.S. Air Force.
The re-engining effort (officially the Commercial Engine Replacement Program, or CERP) had been
anticipated for some time, as the Air Force had announced its plans to extend the B-52s' service into at
least the 2040s, and had held an industry day on December 12, 2017, to share information and solicit
vendors for the program. Boeing, the B-52 prime contractor, even produced an animated video touting the
benefits of re-engining.


                                                               Congressional Research Service
                                                               https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                    IN11413


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