The B-52's engine upgrade is a VERY BIG DEAL | CG Reacts

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]Hollers and gents.

[00:00:03]Okay, why why is this happening? B-52's engine upgrade is a very big deal. Did you just went insane and gave it B-1 Lancer jet engine or something? Did you made it supersonic?

[00:00:15]I don't know what this engine is about.

[00:00:18]I am an engineer, so I'm going to guess here without going crazy, without fantasizing.

[00:00:23]I'm guessing it's going to be something that increases its range rather than speed, obviously.

[00:00:30]Uh probably modern engines are becoming more and more efficient with a bypass air, uh you know, outside of the actual engine that increases the efficiency and long range of things. Engines are becoming much better like that. I'm guessing it's that.

[00:00:44]Right? Uh ratio of I don't know what a 1 to 10, 1 to 15, I don't know whatever it is. Like one one volume of air that goes into the actual afterburner, 15 volume of air will go around it to increase its efficiency. I don't know. It's going to be something like that. But who knows?

[00:01:01]Maybe America said like screw it, let's make it faster than B-1 Lancer somehow.

[00:01:05]And this stick, the basically cross-looking plane from 1960 is just going to be another badass. I mean, it's already badass, but you know what I mean. It's like B-1 Lancer level badass. Who knows? It's going to be interesting. Let's watch this one.

[00:01:20]>> Well, the B-52 might just fly forever, but its 1960s era engines certainly won't. And that's why it's such a big deal that the mighty buff is finally getting all new and much more efficient turbofan engines. Now, the B-52 Stratofortress has been a staple of American air power since 1955, with the last >> Ooh, 1955.

[00:01:49]That's a long long time.

[00:01:52]Imagine the movies back then. Okay, even a Wait a This is the movies from 1955. Look at that black and white. Look at all these like this sounds like this feels like you know, like weird parody esque thing from Fallout universe because it's so old. Look at that. Look at all this.

[00:02:12]1955 That's when B-52s were used.

[00:02:18]That's Is there ever been something that has this level of longevity?

[00:02:23]Seriously, is there anything else in military that is this long? This is insane.

[00:02:28]>> New B-52 airframe delivered to the Air Force like 64 years ago now. But despite its advancing age, this heavy payload strategic bomber keeps finding new uses for the Air Force. In fact, the B-52 is now expected to stay in service for the foreseeable future while new bombers built to replace it like the B-1B Lancer aren't expected to see the end of the 2030s. So >> Okay, this is definition of the bomber.

[00:03:00]It's a default bomber. When you say bomber, you better think about B-52.

[00:03:04]That's what US military says.

[00:03:06]Foreseeable future, it's going to stay there. It's been here for 70 plus years now.

[00:03:11]71 years and now it's going to stay there for foreseeable future. So I'm guessing next 30, 40 years.

[00:03:17]This is the bomber for US military.

[00:03:21]>> How has the B-52 managed to stay airborne for so long when much newer aircraft like the A-10 are considered too outdated for the modern fight? Well, it really comes down to a combination of the B-52's design intentions and the role it ultimately found itself filling for the Air Force. The B-52 was over-engineered right from the start partially because it was being fielded amid a rapid technological transition from prop-driven to jet-powered aircraft, but also because the bomber was always meant to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Now, that means the B-52 needed to be able to fly great distance >> Can you use this for rapid dragon?

[00:04:07]Or you can do does it have the I mean it does it have like cargo style back door?

[00:04:11]I mean it's a bomber like that's how you load it so it must be right?

[00:04:16]So it can also use rapid dragon so it's like nuclear bombs all type of bombs rapid drag or everything.

[00:04:22]>> fences with massive payloads with plenty of space to add upgrades down the road while still being tough enough to withstand air-to-air combat back when even the B-52 came equipped with a tail gunner. As the years pressed on, all that extra space for upgrades came in really handy and the B-52 became America's premier missile truck and honestly a lot more. With its external pylons originally rated to carry huge 5,000-lb munitions and later upgrades aiming to increase that to nearly 20,000, B-52s have become priceless air-launched test platforms deploying everything from the Mach 6.7 rocket-powered and manned X-15 back in 1959 to the Air Force's latest AGM-183 Aero hypersonic missile in testing just last year. And like the B-52's missile truck role, these jobs don't require aggressive wing-bending flying to be accomplished and that is important because it's played a it's literally stick and a boomerang. That's how it looks stick together.

[00:05:32]>> huge role in the B-52's longevity. Newer bombers like the B-1B Lancer were designed for low-level penetration flying flying nap of the earth and maneuvering around the terrain. In comparison, B-52s fly a lot more like commercial airliners, engaging targets from so far away that the massive buff doesn't even show up on radar. But, believe it or not, the B-52 is still flying with the same eight practically ancient Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofan engines that it started out with, each of which produces around 17,000 lb of thrust.

[00:06:10]>> Hold up. That isn't engine one of the most easiest things to upgrade in any any thing any plane?

[00:06:17]Okay, not any plane. Maybe not in the fighter jets because chassis itself might become an issue if you put too powerful engine than it's designed for.

[00:06:26]But like something like a bomber, isn't that like putting an efficient engine it just makes sense?

[00:06:31]Why is it still using 1955's engine?

[00:06:35]>> and the B-52's classic smoke trails.

[00:06:38]Now, despite limited upgrades over the years, these engines are just way too old to keep in service. In fact, they've been out of production for as many years as >> It started with a hand crank. Yeah, that's ancient.

[00:06:52]>> I've been alive. And you won't be surprised to hear that engine technology has actually matured a lot since then.

[00:06:59]So, now the B-52 will receive eight new Rolls-Royce F130 turbofan engines derived from >> Why you keep going to Rolls-Royce? Do they are they really good? For like a lot of American things this Rolls-Royce even though you have Pratt & Whitney and many other companies. I'm guessing Rolls-Royce is still cutting edge top of their game.

[00:07:21]>> from their much more efficient BR725 commercial engine. Now, these new power plants will produce that same 17,000 lb of thrust, but while offering much more range, more loiter time, and a huge drop in maintenance requirements. Now, we can't say exactly how much more range the B-52 will get from these engines.

[00:07:43]Estimates currently span from as little as 10% to as much as 30%. But >> 30% makes more sense because no way you have a modern engine that only increases efficiency by just 10% after 70 years.

[00:07:58]That's insanity. No, it must be 30%.

[00:08:02]>> We can speak to how this range extension is being accomplished. You see, the B-52's current engines were derived from earlier turbojets, and they have an extremely low bypass ratio, or the amount of air that passes around the engine core versus the amount that's compressed, mixed with fuel, and ignited within it. Now, low bypass engines are, broadly speaking, a lot less efficient, but a lot better at producing power.

[00:08:29]That's why modern fighter engines also have very low bypass ratios today. And back in the '50s, >> This is also like kind of equivalent to this in cars as well.

[00:08:44]Uh you know, like naturally aspirated engines can produce a lot of thrust at the high end of it. You can go very high RPMs, right? Even like 10, 11,000 in cars.

[00:08:55]But turbo engines, which turbo literally jams more in it, air inside it, can't rev as much, but is much more efficient and generate decent power. I mean, power like uh power point doesn't make doesn't make much sense here that's a different thing, but it also like increases power.

[00:09:14]You can use less pistons.

[00:09:16]But for naturally aspirated, you would need to use more pistons, but eventually you get more power. But it's much more efficient with turbo, right? So, this is kind of like that. The more air, the more efficient it is, and also produces uh if you do it right, same amount of thrust. But yeah, if you if you use less efficient engine, that's like instant power, instant thrust. But obviously much less efficient.

[00:09:39]>> That was just about the only way to get enough power onto this bomber to make it fly. So, while today's B-52 engines have a bypass ratio of only around 1.2 to 1, its new F130s have a bypass ratio of 4.2 to 1, meaning the engines effectively >> was just slightly off between 1 by 10.

[00:10:00]No, it's it's 1 by 4. Okay. I don't know about any of that, so I was just guessing. Don't come after me for that, but all right.

[00:10:07]>> move a lot more air with a lot less work, making them way more efficient in how they burn fuel without any compromise in speed or payload capacity.

[00:10:18]And that's actually just the beginning of this B-52 upgrade, so let me know if [snorts] you want to hear more.

[00:10:24]>> I mean, yeah, why not?

[00:10:26]Who's going to say I don't want to hear more about this, all right?

[00:10:29]Uh it's a small video. And the Sandbox does like very large videos, which he calls air power series, which again, I've said this in the past, like put it in a title, this is air power series of video. I don't know why he doesn't do that. And some of the like update type video with this is. But yeah, B-52 like he he should make more like F F130 Rolls-Royce. That's the new engine, I'm guessing, cuz I was written on the engine.

[00:10:52]Yeah, but it's it's just makes sense.

[00:10:55]Even like at this point even like B-1's engine could get an up upgrade, right?

[00:11:00]Because this is one of the most easiest things to swap. And not to increase the thrust, but you can make it more efficient. Increasing thrust is his own issue, like is airframe strong enough to handle that?

[00:11:10]Yeah, you could basically swap out like many engines, even the fighter jets, if you can make it efficient.

[00:11:16]And that's the modern, you know, like modern material science and like, you know, aerodynamic science, computer science, which creates these simulations, which can tell you how to make an engine that makes it more efficient, has gone up much higher. Not to mention because of AI, that's just going to go even more in the future.

[00:11:33]Military is going to have a field day in the future with AI, especially in R&D and everything. So, yeah, just like engines can be much and much and much more efficient.

[00:11:43]All right, well, there you go. If you like my stuff, subscribe and I'll see you next time.