According to Defense News, the US Air Force announced that it will not repair the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber damaged in an accident at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
This is the second B-2 to be retired after another B-2 had a serious accident at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in 2008. In addition, these aircraft have repeatedly encountered mishaps, raises questions about their operability and maintainability.
“The previous accident in September 2021 and the recent one were both described as ‘in-flight malfunction during normal operations’ and required an immediate landing.
The airframe was designed in the 1980s and first deployed in 1997, and the B-2 was scheduled for retirement in 2030. It could be as simple as mechanical deterioration. gas and software,” said retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense.
The B-2A Spirit is designed to secretly deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons deep into enemy territory.
According to some estimates, this fighter jet is one of the most expensive US weapons systems with a price tag of about $4 billion each.
From 1988 to 1997, aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman built 21 B-2s, meaning the US Air Force’s fleet was recently reduced to 19 stealth bombers.
“The logic that the Pentagon and Congress initially pursued was a fleet of 200 B-2s but only 20 were actually produced plus one prototype at a price of $4 billion each.
These super-expensive aircraft were born out of ideology as well as the competition between the Air Force and Navy between the military services over the importance of the nuclear defense triad (war bombers). strategic, land-based ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles)”, the former Pentagon analyst explained.
“In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in ICBM capabilities on land and at sea, and the United States was ahead in strategic bombers.
As a result, the Soviet Union developed defenses against those bombers, leading the US Air Force to propose both supersonic bombers and stealth bombers to overcome Soviet defenses. Soviet Union.
Computer and materials science appear to be an area in which the US is leading and could master – however, the complexity and cost of these designs has limited the number of B-2s produced and adopted. implementation,” Ms. Kwiatkowski said.
According to a former US Department of Defense analyst, the B-2 is rarely used and became infamous after the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade 25 years ago.
Meanwhile, the concept of a manned bomber no longer seems relevant, the retired lieutenant colonel commented, referring to the modern idea of aircraft that are completely dependent on computers without Need actual pilot.
Therefore, the old B-2 is also outdated both technologically and conceptually.
Currently, along with the B-2, the strategic aircraft in the US nuclear trio also includes the B-52. This is a bomber line that has been in service with the US Air Force since 1955.
The US has used a total of 742 B-52s in different versions, currently the most recent version, the B-52H, has about 102 units. The B-52 bomber is capable of carrying up to 27.2 tons of bombs (including nuclear bombs), cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
The B-52 can fly 7,210km with a maximum flight speed of 1,000km/h and a flight ceiling of 17,000m. The famous nuclear missile equipped on the B-52H is the AGM-69 SRAM, weighing 1 ton and 4.83m long. The US has produced 1,500 types of these missiles at a price of about 500,000 USD each.
Although the B-2 Spirit is considered to still operate very effectively, Major General Jason Armagost, Director of Operations and Communications of the Global Strike Command – US Air Force, said that this force plans to buy 100 B-21 aircraft to replace the B-1B and B-2 Spirit squadrons.
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| The B-2 Spirit aircraft had a broken gear during landing. |
According to Defense News, the US Air Force announced that it will not repair the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber damaged in an accident at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
This is the second B-2 to be retired after another B-2 had a serious accident at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in 2008. In addition, these aircraft have repeatedly encountered mishaps, raises questions about their operability and maintainability.
“The previous accident in September 2021 and the recent one were both described as ‘in-flight malfunction during normal operations’ and required an immediate landing.
The airframe was designed in the 1980s and first deployed in 1997, and the B-2 was scheduled for retirement in 2030. It could be as simple as mechanical deterioration. gas and software,” said retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense.
The B-2A Spirit is designed to secretly deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons deep into enemy territory.
According to some estimates, this fighter jet is one of the most expensive US weapons systems with a price tag of about $4 billion each.
From 1988 to 1997, aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman built 21 B-2s, meaning the US Air Force’s fleet was recently reduced to 19 stealth bombers.
“The logic that the Pentagon and Congress initially pursued was a fleet of 200 B-2s but only 20 were actually produced plus one prototype at a price of $4 billion each.
These super-expensive aircraft were born out of ideology as well as the competition between the Air Force and Navy between the military services over the importance of the nuclear defense triad (war bombers). strategic, land-based ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles)”, the former Pentagon analyst explained.
“In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in ICBM capabilities on land and at sea, and the United States was ahead in strategic bombers.
As a result, the Soviet Union developed defenses against those bombers, leading the US Air Force to propose both supersonic bombers and stealth bombers to overcome Soviet defenses. Soviet Union.
Computer and materials science appear to be an area in which the US is leading and could master – however, the complexity and cost of these designs has limited the number of B-2s produced and adopted. implementation,” Ms. Kwiatkowski said.
According to a former US Department of Defense analyst, the B-2 is rarely used and became infamous after the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade 25 years ago.
Meanwhile, the concept of a manned bomber no longer seems relevant, the retired lieutenant colonel commented, referring to the modern idea of aircraft that are completely dependent on computers without Need actual pilot.
Therefore, the old B-2 is also outdated both technologically and conceptually.
Currently, along with the B-2, the strategic aircraft in the US nuclear trio also includes the B-52. This is a bomber line that has been in service with the US Air Force since 1955.
The US has used a total of 742 B-52s in different versions, currently the most recent version, the B-52H, has about 102 units. The B-52 bomber is capable of carrying up to 27.2 tons of bombs (including nuclear bombs), cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
The B-52 can fly 7,210km with a maximum flight speed of 1,000km/h and a flight ceiling of 17,000m. The famous nuclear missile equipped on the B-52H is the AGM-69 SRAM, weighing 1 ton and 4.83m long. The US has produced 1,500 types of these missiles at a price of about 500,000 USD each.
Although the B-2 Spirit is considered to still operate very effectively, Major General Jason Armagost, Director of Operations and Communications of the Global Strike Command – US Air Force, said that this force plans to buy 100 B-21 aircraft to replace the B-1B and B-2 Spirit squadrons.
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