B-2 Bomber Crash in Guam

KUAM News ^

[AzSteven]

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here)

http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

[Hammerhead]

Yeh, I was on the Proteus AS-19 (sub tender) in Apra Harbor 86-88. Worked the sub sonar repair shack. Nice place to finish out my sub career.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Cost: $1.2 billion each. Ouch.

[tanknetter]

In fact, I’m sure its replacement is already flying, albeit at night, in the middle of nowhere.

In a way, you are absolutely correct. The B-2A fleet was originally capped at 20 aircraft: 8 for each squadron, 3 assumed to be in overhaul at a given time and one flying out of Edwards for test duties.

The first B-2A, AV-1 82-1066 Spirit of America, was supposed to be retired after she completed her flight test duties. Instead the Air Force paid for her to be brought up to production specs and the fleet expanded to 21 aircraft, to lessen the effect of attrition. Since she is technically both the first, and last, B-2A, she was named "Spirit of America" rather than after a state (or implicitly after a state, as with Spirit of Kitty Hawk).

[NinoFan]

Pretty pics: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Edwards2005/B2/index.html

[null and void]

The cost of the B-2 program in 1994 dollars was reported at $737 million per plane; however, the total cost of the program with development, spares, and facilities averaged over $2.1 billion per plane as of 1997 according to the B-2 program office

The unit price would be lower if we bought more of them...

[cubreporter]

geez

[cubreporter]

The work horse of all work horses. :)

[OCC]

I think I read that any more production after the first 20 (in 1994) would have been $1.2 billion each. Unfortunately all the manufacturing tools were destroyed or sold off, so building a replacement is no longer an option.

[redgolum]

Considering how long we have had them, for this to be the first says something about the training level and quality of the plane.

These are complicated birds, and there are a million things that can go wrong at any time. Amazing that one didn’t drop out the sky earlier.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Heard they got a lot of snakes on the Island of Guam.

Great. I hate snakes.

[isrul]

Wasn’t one shot down by the evil Serbs on 20 may 1999? I read it was a B-2 spirit.

[Norman Arbuthnot]

No, that was a F-117 Nighthawk.

[PISANO]

At $1,200,000,000 per plane, this will be the most thoroughly investigated Air Force crash in history.

NO NEED.....It is George Bush's FAULT just like KATRINA et al!!

[TeleStraightShooter]

They used to name battleships after states; I suppose these world class aircraft cost more than the USS Iowa class. Probably not after adjusted for inflation since 1944.

[eleni121]

evil Serbs

---

Get off it jerk. Clinton bombed the wrong side in that fiasco.

[isrul]

You’re obviously to dense to recognize sarcasm unless it’s tagged.

[isrul]

Yeah. I read that too. That’s where some confusion arose. It can’t be both.

[eleni121]

...looked pretty clear that it was real. I apologize if it was meant sarcastically.

There are some KLA supporters around. Even here on FR.

[NoLibZone]

Are there really only twenty?

Or is that what we are told?

[metmom]

The space shuttles don’t have such a good record either.

You can plan for everything, but it’s what you don’t expect that’ll getcha.