That telltale trail of smoke from the Air Force's longest serving airframe will soon be a thing of the past but that's not because the B-52 is going anywhere. A request for proposal will be issued in March to re-engine 76 of the venerable bombers as part of the Air Force's long-range bombing strategy through the middle of the century. With the new engines, the BUFF will remain in service until at least 2050 when the youngest member of the fleet will be 88 years old. They will fly in tandem with about 100 Northrop Grumman B-21 stealth bombers, which can operate either piloted or autonomously. B-1B Lancers and B-2 Spirit stealth bombers will be phased out by 2035.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/business-military/re-engined-b-52s-to-serve-until-2050