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B-52 Engine Upgrade Costs Surge $3 Billion, GAO Says
Ten of 13 B-52 upgrades face cost or schedule trouble. The engine replacement alone is up roughly $3 billion and 15 months late, with production risk ahead.
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The Government Accountability Office said last week that the Air Force's program to modernize the 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress is running billions over budget.
Cost on the Commercial Engine Replacement Program, the most expensive piece of the upgrade package, has risen by roughly $3 billion since 2023. The initial operational date has slipped more than 15 months. The GAO said the engine work "will likely continue to face significant challenges as the Air Force plans to begin production with little to no developmental flight testing."
Ten of the 13 B-52 upgrades are experiencing cost growth or schedule slips; some also face performance problems. Other work in the package covers new radars, communications gear, training devices, and advanced targeting displays. The bombers are also being fitted to carry the AGM-181 Long-Range Standoff weapon, a nuclear-armed cruise missile still in development.
GAO also faulted the Air Force's approach of running many of these upgrades at once. Because the service is working on several programs on the same airframes, work on one can interfere with work that another already completed. "Work on one program may involve moving hardware on the aircraft that relates to work to be completed by other modernization programs," the report said.