Boeing Wins $2B Contract To Bring B-52 Bombers Into The Modern Age

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is one of the most iconic warplanes of all time and has even become a piece of pop culture itself. More than that, though, the B-52 is one of the longest-serving military aircraft ever, and has established itself as a timeless marvel of aviation engineering. Despite its age, the B-52's story is not over, and the fleet is about to go under the knife for some serious modernizations.

In December 2025, Boeing won a $2 billion contract from the United States Air Force to give its fleet of aging Stratofortresses new engines and avionics — hopefully keeping them in service for several more decades. The contract is part of a long-running plan to modernize the Air Force's B-52 fleet, which will be re-designated from B-52H to B-52J during the overhaul process. 

These will represent just the latest evolution of the enduring B-52 bomber, which began development immediately after World War II and entered service in the early 1950s. The Stratofortress would go on to become a symbol of American nuclear capabilities during the Cold War, and B-52s saw direct combat in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and other U.S. military conflicts. And with these latest upgrades, the plane is likely to end up having a service life of more than 100 years.

Boeing built several different iterations of the B-52 during its production run, but the B-52H is the only version remaining in service. And what's amazing is that despite the B-52's extremely long service life, the Stratofortress wasn't actually in production for all that long. The final B-52, which is still being flown today, was delivered back in the fall of 1962. Though it may have been designed for an entirely different era of warfare, the B-52's airframe has proven incredibly robust and adaptable for modern weapon systems.

Rolls-Royce won the contest to be the provider of the B-52J's new engines several years ago, and the firm's new F130 turbofan engines passed critical review in December 2024. A year on, the B-52's original manufacturer, Boeing, will handle the actual outfitting of the new engines on the USAF's entire fleet of 76 B-52Hs. The Air Force's B-52Hs are currently powered by aging Pratt & Whitney engines, and Boeing's primary task will be outfitting each plane with eight of the more modern and more efficient F130 engines.

But it's not just an engine swap that the B-52 will be getting as part of its upgrade into the J model. Along with the modern Rolls-Royce turbofan engines, Raytheon will supply a brand-new radar system, and the planes will receive upgraded avionics and communication systems, as well as redesigned crew compartments. Upgrading the entire 76-plane B-52 fleet will be a time-consuming process, with the work scheduled to be completed by spring 2033.

Just because the B-52 has been so reliable for so many years does not mean that the U.S. Air Force can't or won't modernize its arsenal with new planes, though. The new sixth-generation B-21 Raider, for example, is an ultra-modern dual-role stealth bomber that the USAF plans to deploy in large numbers. But as the aging B-52 has already proven so many times during its long career, you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks. And if everything goes to plan, these upgraded B-52Js are poised to give the Stratofortress an astonishing military service run of 100 years — and possibly more.