Rolls-Royce held a successful F130 engine Critical Design Review (CDR) last month, clearing the way for final development, test, and production efforts to proceed and take another step towards delivering the upgraded B-52J to the United States Air Force (USAF).
This milestone is the culmination of over two years of detailed design work and close collaboration between teams at Rolls-Royce, the USAF and
Boeing. The engine testing programme is on track to begin altitude testing in February 2025 at the US Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Candice Bineyard, director of early life cycle and naval programmes – defence, said: “We are extremely proud to have delivered the F130 CDR milestone on-time for the B-52J, and grateful for our continued partnership with the USAF and Boeing. Throughout the detailed design phase, our teams have executed a rigorous process in close collaboration with our partners. We are excited to start the production work to deliver this incredible and highly reliable engine for the B-52J.”
Rolls-Royce recently completed the first phases of F130 sea-level tests at its Indianapolis site and wrapped up Rapid Twin Pod Tests at NASA Stennis Space Center this summer. Sea-level testing gathered critical performance data by running the initial software release for the engine in Test Cell 114. The test cell was recently revamped as part of a $1 billion investment in modernising Rolls-Royce’s Indianapolis site, its largest production facility in the USA, to deliver innovation and advanced manufacturing for the USAF and other customers with American labour. The F130 engines will be manufactured, assembled and tested in Indianapolis.
Trials at NASA Stennis marked the first time F130 engines were tested in the dual-pod engine configuration of the B-52 aircraft. Rapid Twin Pod Tests played a key role in validating Rolls-Royce’s analytical predictions, further de-risking the integration of the F130 engine onto the B-52J and meeting test goals.