The Rolls-Royce F130 engine upgrade for the B-52 Stratofortress is replacing about 600 aging Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines with more efficient, reliable F130 engines. This will enhance fuel efficiency by up to 30%, extend range, reduce maintenance needs, and support the bomber's service life into the 2050s. The plan was to completely switch engines by 2030. Initial operational capability (IOC) is now projected for fiscal year 2033, about three years behind the original schedule. Rolls-Royce will produce over 600 F130 engines in its Indianapolis facility, with full re-engining of the 76 B-52s expected by 2036. There delay and cost overruns. They had to redesign the inlets on the engines and there have been other problems and delays.

In September 2021, the Air Force awarded Rolls-Royce a CERP contract worth potentially $2.6 billion through fiscal 2038 to outfit the B-52 with the F130 engine, based on Rolls-Royce's commercial BR725 carried on Gulfstream G650 business jets.

Originally, each B-52 in 1962 was about $9.28 million, making the total outlay at the time $6.9 billion. Adjusted for inflation, this is about $94 million per aircraft and $69.9 billion for all 744 bombers today.

Critical Design Review (CDR) for the Engine: Successfully completed in December 2024, on schedule for the engine component, following detailed design work and collaboration with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and Boeing.

Altitude testing of the engines started in February 2025 at the USAF's Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee.

The early testing phases in Indianapolis were completed by July 2025, as noted in Rolls-Royce's half-year results announcement on July 31, 2025.

In June 2025, wind tunnel testing confirmed the redesigned engine inlet, addressing earlier integration issues and allowing CERP to proceed into the engineering and manufacturing development phase during the summer of 2025.