Most B-52 upgrades behind schedule or over budget, GAO finds

Ten of the 13 programs meant to keep the B-52 flying into the 2050s are over budget, behind schedule or underperforming, a federal watchdog found, including new engines and radar. The findings, in a new report from the Government Accountability Office, come as the Air Force spends an estimated $21 billion to keep the 76 aging bombers flying decades past their planned lifespan. The two costliest programs, new engines and radar, are running over on all three counts. The engine program is the biggest. Costs have risen 38% since 2018, to more than $15 billion. Development has slipped 32 months. Flight testing is now four years late. The Air Force plans to start building engines the same quarter it starts testing them. The radar program is smaller, but costs are up more than 30%, to $2.9 billion. In May 2025, the Air Force told Congress it had breached a federal cost limit. It also cut five of 25 performance requirements. GAO concluded the Air Force will get less capability while paying more. In June, a B-52 supporting the radar effort crashed on takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base, killing all eight aboard and destroying one of just two planned test aircraft. Air Force officials said the cause was not yet known; the investigation can take up to six months. In July, the Air Force said it was modifying a second jet to resume testing and that the program remained on cost and schedule. GAO's central recommendation is that the Air Force delay its decision to begin engine production until it studies the recent cost and schedule problems. The Air Force only partly agreed. A cost increase of that size would normally require the Air Force to notify Congress. But that trigger applies only once a program sets a formal cost baseline. The engine program has not set one. As of January, it still had not, GAO noted. GAO said building engines before flight testing is complete raises the risk of costly rework on a plane the Air Force says it cannot afford to lose. For all the risk, the B-52 is a small line in the Pentagon's budget. The Air Force's 2027 request seeks about $480 million for B-52 modernization. It asks for $6.1 billion for the B-21, the stealth bomber meant to eventually replace it, and $1.5 billion for a new nuclear cruise missile the B-52 is being modified to carry. GAO warned that continued engine delays could leave the Air Force with "too few B-52s to support operational requirements." The 2027 request, meanwhile, would fund the modernization keeping that fleet aloft at a fraction of what the Air Force is spending to field its replacement. The Air Force's plans also collide with how Washington is funding the government. With full-year 2027 spending bills unfinished, Congress is preparing to keep agencies running on a stopgap measure into December, one that bars the Pentagon from starting new programs or ramping production above last year's levels. The strain is already showing at the depot. B-52s now spend an average of 340 days there for scheduled maintenance, up 55% since 2020, as mechanics wait on parts for engines the Air Force is struggling to keep running. The bomber has roughly 76,000 distinct parts, and the industry that once made many of them has gone cold. A single engine has more than 6,000 unique parts; the Air Force found in 2017 that keeping the current engines going would be unsustainable after 2030 without replacement. The Air Force is also short on equipment it needs to service the plane. As of July 2025, it had only 63% of the specialized support gear specific to the B-52, and GAO found no office clearly responsible for managing it over the aircraft's remaining decades. Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the service would not comment beyond the statement it provided in the report. In its written response to GAO, the Air Force partially agreed with the recommendation to delay the engine production decision and agreed with five others. The Office of the Secretary of Defense referred questions to the Air Force. Congress is still weighing how much of the modernization to fund. The House-passed version of the 2027 defense policy bill would authorize money to speed construction of a new maintenance hangar the B-52 depot needs to absorb the added work. The Senate has not passed its version; a July effort to bring it to the floor stalled.