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Air Force Widens Review Of B-52 Re-Engining Options
By Stephen Trimble
July 7, 2003


The U.S. Air Force is in the early stages of reviewing a proposal that
could roughly double the B-52H's engine power, Boeing officials told
The DAILY.

The Air Force has asked Boeing to greatly expand an ongoing study on
the feasibility of re-engining the B-52H fleet.

A six-month study contract had called for Boeing to deliver an
analysis in July of a proposal to replace the B-52's eight 1950s-era
Pratt & Whitney TF-33 engines with four modern and more efficient
propulsion systems.

But the Air Force now has extended the study to September and asked
the company to research the possibility of replacing the eight TF-33
engines with eight modern engines, Boeing spokesman Paul Guse said.

"Surprisingly, there are some merits to looking at that," Guse said.

Boeing's analysis of the original request for a four-engine upgrade,
which includes a review of alternative financing options, is nearly
complete, Guse said.

The Air Force's new request greatly expands the scope of the study.
Rather than perform the B-52's current mission more efficiently, as a
four-engine upgrade would do, an eight-engine upgrade could
dramatically boost the B-52's overall capability and perhaps expand
its mission envelope - even as the fleet's oldest aircraft approach
the half-century age mark later this decade.

There have been many proposals to install more fuel-efficient and
reliable engines on the B-52 fleet, but none ranked ahead of offensive
and defensive system upgrades on the Air Force's priority list.

Boeing launched the most recent attempt in 1996. The company offered
the Air Force an unsolicited proposal to re-engine the B-52 fleet with
the RB211-535 turbofans built by Rolls-Royce subsidiary Allison Engine
Co. (DAILY, March 14, 1997).

A year later, however, a Pentagon and Air Force analysis found that
"neither a buy nor a lease option to re-engine B-52 is cost
effective." (DAILY, May 14, 1997).

Interest picked up again earlier this year based on a fresh review by
the Defense Science Board, which strongly endorsed the
cost-effectiveness of replacing the B-52's legacy engines (DAILY,
April 8).

"This task force concludes that the economic and operational benefits
far outweigh the program cost," the board's report, dated March 20,
says.

The Pentagon's analysis in 1997 had miscalculated the true cost of
operating the TF-33 engines, the report says. Board members factored
in cost savings from needing fewer mid-air refuelings, priced at
$17.50 per gallon, by using more efficient engines. The Air Force also
had severely underestimated the TF-33's future maintenance costs in
its mid-1990s budget projections, the report says.

In any event, any re-engining proposal would face growing opposition
to using non-appropriated funding, such as operating leases and a
proposed financing mechanism known as Energy Savings Performance
Contracts (ESPC).

Jim Albaugh, chief executive officer of Boeing's Integrated Defense
Systems sector, said he has ruled out a leasing option for re-engining
B-52s (DAILY, June 17).

Also this spring, Congress moved to block a proposal to use an ESPC to
finance a B-52 re-engining program by placing a $100 million cap on a
proposed new pilot program. ESPCs allow the government to finance
certain projects, usually facility upgrades, that promise to reduce an
agency's annual energy bills using the projected fuel savings as
collateral.


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