![]() ![]() Such was the state of affairs in the small hours of the morning at Whiteman on January 17, 2017, during the last days of the Obama administration. In the meantime, they have occasionally flown missions of a different sort-make-work projects such as saber rattling over the Korean peninsula, and the opening salvos in Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq-to tactical advantage without American discomfort. No one should doubt that, if given the order to launch a nuclear attack, these crews would carry it out. ![]() B-2 bombers are still primarily regarded as a nuclear-delivery system, meaning that their crews are by selection the sort of men and women capable of defining success as a precisely flown sortie at the outset of mass annihilation. Tibbets IV, whose grandfather dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. They are part of the 509th Bomb Wing, and until recently were commanded by Brigadier General Paul W. Nineteen of them are now stationed close to the geographic center of the contiguous United States, in the desolate farmland of central Missouri, at Whiteman Air Force Base. It is probably just as well that the stealth bomber was not quite as stealthy as it was meant to be, and was so expensive-at $2.1 billion each-that only 21 were built before Congress refused to pay for more. ![]() First-strike weapons have destabilizing, not deterrent, effects. It came into service in the late 1990s primarily for use in a potential nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and clearly as a first-strike weapon rather than a retaliatory one. It later served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.The B-2 stealth bomber is the world’s most exotic strategic aircraft, a subsonic flying wing meant to be difficult for air defenses to detect-whether by radar or other means-yet capable of carrying nearly the same payload as the massive B-52. Though designed originally as primarily a nuclear bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat dropping conventional, non-nuclear ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It entered service in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi 11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi 19,000 km) with one midair refueling. As of 2018, twenty B-2s are in service with the United States Air Force, which plans to operate them until 2032, when the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is to replace them. In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff, though the crew ejected safely. During the late 1980s and 1990s, Congress slashed plans to purchase 132 bombers to 21. The winding-down of the Cold War in the latter portion of the 1980s dramatically reduced the need for the aircraft, which was designed with the intention of penetrating Soviet airspace and attacking high-value targets. īecause of its considerable capital and operating costs, the project was controversial in the U.S. The total program cost, which included development, engineering and testing, averaged $2.13 billion per aircraft in 1997. Total procurement costs averaged $929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. Designed and manufactured by Northrop, later Northrop Grumman, the cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million (in 1997 dollars). Program costs rose throughout development. The ATB project continued during the Reagan administration, but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the B-1 program. Development started under the "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) project during the Carter administration its expected performance was one of the President's reasons for the cancellation of the Mach 2 capable B-1A bomber. ![]()
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