The United States currently has the most strategic bomber . It has B-1B strategic bomber, B-2A stealth bomber and B-52H strategic bomber in the US combat sequence. Although the United States has now claimed that the new B-21 stealth bomber will be displayed in a limited public display in December this year, and said that the B-21 stealth bomber will complete its first flight in 2023. At the same time, as a brand new stealth bomber, the B-21 stealth bomber will replace some of the tasks of B-1B and B-52H strategic bomber, the United States is still persistent in continuing to improve and upgrade the B-52H strategic bomber and extend its life. According to a news released by the US media recently, the model of the B-52H strategic bomber has once again entered the wind tunnel test. In this wind tunnel test, the B-52H strategic bomber has begun to change the aircraft engine. The aircraft engine replaced this time is the F-130 turbofan engine from Rolls-Royce .
Although the models used in the B-52H strategic bomber during the three tests were very similar in the 1950s, it can be seen that engine compartment has undergone significant changes, and these engine compartment can be equipped with Rolls Reus F-130 turbofan engine. According to Boeing , the F-130 turbofan engine has more fuel economy performance and is easier to maintain than the current TF-33 turbofan engine. The TF-33 turbofan engine was completely discontinued as early as 1985, and since this type of engine was completely discontinued, the United States will also carry out subsequent engine maintenance after 2030.
Although the TF-33 turbofan engine can currently help the B-52H strategic bomber complete a series of tasks, the US military has found that every 6,000 flight hours is carried out, and the flight cost of the B-52H strategic bomber has risen to $70,000 per hour due to the price of aviation kerosene. Now the United States needs to replace the B-52H strategic bomber aircraft. The replaced F-130 turbofan engine this time can provide greater thrust and higher fuel economy performance. In fact, the F-130 turbofan engine replaced by the US military has been used on many civil aircraft.
The so-called F-130 engine is actually an improved military model of the BR700 series engine. Currently, the Gulfstream business aircraft and the US Air Force's E-11A battlefield airborne communication node aircraft are equipped with F-130 turbofan engines. Therefore, for the US Air Force, the cost of maintaining this type of engine is also low. Of course, the most important thing is that the F-130 turbofan engine has passed through civilian aircraft, and long-term use can maintain its very high reliability performance.
Although the improvement and upgrading of the B-52H strategic bomber is only to replace the aircraft engine, this is a considerable project. According to the current plan of the US Air Force, by the end of 2025, the US Air Force will complete the modification and delivery of two B-52H strategic bombers to carry out ground tests and flight tests. By 2035, the entire fleet of the B-52H strategic bomber will complete the engine improvements. Text/Aris
