Posted on 12/21/2022 9:56:22 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
A day after publicly disclosing a safety stand-down for its entire fleet of B-2 Spirit bombers, the Air Force clarified that the nuclear-capable B-2 can still fly—if absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense is investigating the Dec. 10 incident at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., involving a B-2 that sparked the safety stand-down in the first place.
In a statement released Dec. 20, the 509th Bomb Wing, which operates the Air Force’s fleet of 20 B-2s, said the stealth strategic bombers ”can be flown if directed by the commander in chief to fulfill mission requirements.” Short of that, all B-2 flights remain on an indefinite safety pause due to the mishap at Whiteman.
In a press briefing earlier in the day, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder sought to downplay the ramifications of the stand-down for America’s national security.
“The Department of Defense, to include the Air Force, has a variety of capabilities at its disposal, particularly when it comes to our strategic bomber fleet,” Ryder said. “We also have the B-52, which is both conventional and nuclear capable, which provides a redundant capability, broadly speaking, when it comes to our strategic forces.”
In its statement, the 509th Bomb Wing provided updates on the incident, which damaged the aircraft and closed the base’s only runway. The wing said the runway remains blocked with debris but added that no munitions were on board the aircraft and no personnel were injured. The statement said “a fire associated with the aircraft” occurred but did not provide further details. The Air Force and Pentagon have not answered questions on the extent of the damage to the aircraft involved.
“We’re exercising due diligence to ensure the continued safety of our Airmen and our aircraft,” Col. Daniel Diehl, 509th Bomb Wing commander, said.
A safety investigation board is still trying to determine the cause of the incident, the wing added.
“The board consists of specialists who provide technical expertise to prevent future mishaps,” the 509th Bomb Wing said. “The team is conducting an extensive inspection to determine the root cause of the mishap.”
The 509th Bomb Wing continues to describe the incident as the result of an “in-flight malfunction” that caused the aircrew to make a “successful” emergency landing. The aircraft was then “damaged on the runway” after touchdown. The nature of the in-flight issue and exactly how the aircraft was damaged on the ground is unclear.
“The Whiteman AFB runway will reopen once debris is cleared, and B-2 operations will resume at the conclusion of the safety stand-down,” the 509th Bomb Wing said.
The Dec. 10 incident is the second serious mishap involving a B-2 at Whiteman Air Force Base in 15 months. In a September 2021 incident, a B-2 had an issue with its hydraulic system before its landing gear collapsed on touchdown due to worn springs, according to an Air Force investigation.
The Air Force and Pentagon insist this current grounding of the B-2 fleet is just a precaution. If called upon, B-2s could execute a mission at the president’s direction, they said, alluding to its role as part of America’s nuclear arsenal.
However, it is unclear how the debris on the runway at Whiteman Air Force Base would affect that, and the Air Force has not said whether there are airworthy B-2s at any other bases. The safety stand-down applies to all B-2s—the B-2 damaged in 2021 was last seen flying to California for further repairs.
“I’m confident that we continue to maintain the bomber capability that we need to deter adversaries and, if necessary, in combat,” Ryder said. “We have plenty of redundancy and resiliency built into our combat capabilities across the Department of Defense. On any given day, at any given time, there is going to be aircraft, ships, forces on the ground available to confront any threat that we may have wherever it may pop up, so no vulnerabilities at this time.”
This has always been the case in my 22 years active USAF service.
Some people freak out or get worried thanks to the socialist press.
There is no war emergency right now. They cost around a billion each. We only produced 21 of them. A fire happened in one. Common sense is to not fly them until you have an idea why one burned and inspect the others.
This is no big deal.
Sounds like either the gear collapsed (like last time) or it hit a fire truck.
BTW, I hate the term "nuclear capable." An F-16 is nuclear capable. Scary language.
The stand down on B-2 operations can also be a very handy cover for covert action right now especially in places that...
Require
Unusually
Super
Stealthy
Invasive
Aircraft
That makes perfect sense.
There was ONE fire in how many tens of thousands of hours of flight time? We would permanently ground the entire fleet until we figured out what happened? Hardly.
Technically, we can probably cram a nuke in the back of a 10-ton truck and just drive it where it needs to go.
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