DAYTON, Ohio–The U.S. Air Force believes that the Rolls-Royce
F130 engine holds significant promise for reducing B-52H life cycle costs and improving bomber performance. Thus far, the F130 looks to be meeting goals.
The service is to start modifying two engineering and manufacturing development aircraft with the F130 in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. Testing deliveries are to start in the first quarter of fiscal 2028.
“So far, I’d say we’re optimistic on the performance we’ve seen—early positive results with the engine testing at Stennis, and I think–I wanna be sure this comes across the right way–it will be a huge upgrade over the TF33,” Air Force Brig. Gen. William “Buck” Rogers, the program executive officer for bombers, told reporters at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) annual industry days conference.
“There’s always gonna be something that we’re gonna work through,” he replied when asked about challenges for the F130. “As we go into the engineering and manufacturing phase of the program, I’m sure we’re gonna come up with some, I’ll say, subtleties that the preliminary design review didn’t catch. That’s why we’re working towards that critical design review. There’ll definitely be some work to fully integrate those engines onto the B-52, but at this point, there’s been no large show stoppers or anything major.”
Rolls-Royce said on March 1 that it had begun testing the F130 at the company’s outdoor testing site at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
In September 2021, the Air Force awarded Rolls-Royce a Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) contract worth potentially $2.6 billion through fiscal 2038 for the re-engining of the Boeing [BA] B-52s with the F130 engine, based on Rolls-Royce’s commercial BR725 carried on Gulfstream [GD] G650 business jets (Defense Daily, Sept. 24, 2021).
Rolls-Royce said it may deliver more than 600 F130s for the eight-engined B-52 under CERP to extend the life of the venerable B-52 another 30 years–an extension which may mean that the B-52 becomes a centenarian. Rolls-Royce is to build the engines in its Indianapolis plant. The company said that it has invested $1 billion in recent years to modernize its manufacturing, testing, and advanced technology facilities in Indiana.
The Rolls-Royce CERP win in 2021 was significant for the company, as Pratt & Whitney [RTX] was the incumbent, having built the B-52’s TF33-PW-103 engines, which the Air Force expects to retire by 2030. For CERP, the Air Force wanted a new, commercial B-52 engine up to 30 percent more fuel efficient than the TF33.
The F130 testing at Stennis “is the first time F130 engines have been tested in the dual-pod engine configuration of the B-52,” Rolls-Royce said on March 1. “The engine testing will focus on crosswind aerodynamic flow as well as confirming the successful operation of the engine’s digital controls system. Early results from the testing have been very positive with additional test data to be analyzed over the next several months.”
The company said that the F130s “are so durable they are expected to remain on wing for the remainder of the aircraft life.”