Report: B-52 Modernization Program Faces Key Hurdles

Efforts to keep the U.S. Air Force bombers flying into the 2050s are running into cost and schedule concerns.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, August 05, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A B-52H Stratofortress, assigned to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, taxis on the flight line at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in 2024. [Credit: U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. Air Force's $21 billion B-52 modernization program is largely troubled, with 10 out of 13 projects facing cost overruns, schedule delays, or performance issues.
Key upgrades, including engine replacement (CERP) and radar modernization (RMP), are significantly behind schedule and over budget, accounting for 88% of the program's cost and experiencing multi-year delays and reduced capabilities.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights issues like inadequate digital engineering adoption, maintenance capacity problems, and parts shortages, recommending the Air Force reassess risks and improve modernization processes to ensure the critical B-52 fleet remains operational.

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The U.S. Air Force faces cost overruns, schedule delays, or performance issues for the majority of its 13 programs aimed at modernizing the B-52 bomber, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Researchers found that 10 projects face at least one of these issues, including those aimed at upgrading the B-52’s engines and radar, which are contending with all three. According to GAO, the engine and radar efforts have an estimated price tag of $18 million, or about 88 percent of the $21 billion the Air Force is spending on modernization. They are also the most time-intensive aspects of the program, it said.