The Air Force investigated the first crash of a costly B-2 stealth bomber after one plunged to the ground Saturday shortly after beginning the last flight of a four-month deployment.
Both pilots ejected safely, though one was being transferred to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu to be treated for spinal compression.
Four of the bombers were taking off at the end of deployment to Andersen Air Force Base, officials said. At least one had taken off safely but was brought back after the crash…
Each costs about $1.2 billion to build. The three that did not crash are being kept on Guam.
At least the pilots are OK. I guess taxpayers could send in their rebate checks to buy a replacement.
How much you wanna bet it was a computer glitch? These things fly like bricks when the software gets buggy.
iHAVE TO ASK…
HOW???
Too bad all four didn’t crash.
1,200,000,000 dollars.
Or enough to sponsor 3,000,000+ children in the third World (at a yearly cost of 360 dollars)
WorldVision
As complicated as the flight control systems are, I wonder if multiple redundant systems failed that control this “fly by wire” wonder. The plane can’t even fly (and can barely taxi) without total computer control.
I’m also somewhat doubtful we’ll see the real explanation for the crash anytime soon.
Undoubtedly brought down by fragments of the spy satellite shot down the day before…
I wonder if this 1.2 billion cost is a number thrown into the air, a ballooned figure to get whatever company that makes it more profits.
6 – that would be missile fragments from the SDI laser test last week. Just cuz the TV said so doesn’t make it true.
Considering the slave wages that people are being paid these days, I can’t imagine that it costs more than 2-3 million in labor, plus materials. The rest is pure profit for some piece of shit greedy pig.
Oh, and it’s paid for by loans from China.
We are so badly fucked it’s not even funny.
It really wasn’t a B2 that went down. It was a new weather balloon the government is working on and this is just a cover story.
Supposedly, some farmer found this balloon in his field and called the local radio station. But before confirmation could be made, the government showed up and “explained” what really happened.
JPV,
You’re such a cheery guy, how do you ever get up in the morning, let alone make it though traffic to the office? 🙂
11 –
I’ll take raw emotion over fabricated smiles any day of the week.
Keep smiling… we know the truth though 😀
The B-2 is an extraordinary machine. The plane has flown tens of thousands of missions. It is remarkable that this is the very first crash in over 20 years.
Why is it so expensive? Consider the facts:
The B-2 provides the penetrating flexibility and effectiveness inherent in manned bombers. Its low-observable, or “stealth,” characteristics give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy’s most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets. Its capability to penetrate air defenses and threaten effective retaliation provide an effective deterrent and combat force well into the 21st century.
The blending of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large payload gives the B-2 important advantages over existing bombers. Its low-observability provides it greater freedom of action at high altitudes, thus increasing its range and a better field of view for the aircraft’s sensors. Its unrefueled range is approximately 6,000 nautical miles.
The B-2’s low observability is derived from a combination of reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signatures. These signatures make it difficult for the sophisticated defensive systems to detect, track and engage the B-2. Many aspects of the low-observability process remain classified; however, the B-2’s composite materials, special coatings and flying-wing design all contribute to its “stealthiness.”
The B-2 is intended to deliver gravity nuclear and conventional weapons, including precision-guided standoff weapons with precision-guided bomb capability called Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Targeting System/GPS Aided Munition (GATS/GAM). It is also capable of carrying and delivering the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.
B-2s, in a conventional role, staging from Whiteman AFB, MO; Diego Garcia; and Guam can cover the entire world with just one refueling. Six B-2s could execute an operation similar to the 1986 Libya raid but launch from the continental U.S. rather than Europe with a much smaller, more lethal, and more survivable force.
And the B-2 only requires two crew members.
US 2009 budget: 3,107 Billion Dollars.
Cost of the plane: 1.2 Billion Dollars.
Percentage of us budget to replace: 0.038%
Lives saved over convention warfare past 15 years: X
Income from each saved life: Y
Taxes rate per year: 17%
Total revenue saved using B2: X*Y*17%
Total cost of B2: 1.2Billion – X*Y*17%
If you set X and Y right, the damn things make money 🙂
Is this a practical application of the “Blue Screen of Death”?
Cripes…
Cheers
This is a machine that was built by humans. It shall fail as a rule. This should never discourage us from trying though. Only inspire us to do better.
Newsflash, every type of aircraft crashes eventually. From the small Cessna to the Space Shuttle, any flying machine made by man will crash for some reason or another. The fact that this is the first B2 out of thousands of missions says to me this plane is well built and tax money well spent. I’m glad the pilots made it out.
#17 NO! we live in a perfect world!!!!
Just kidding…but aren’t there people just like that? The major pain in the arse is that they tend to run things! Damn!
Cheers
#4 – completely off topic. You HAVE to have high-end weapons systems. Whether or not the B2 is a good one is a different debate, but not having big weapons is not an option.
I agree that anything man made will fail on occasion. Kinda speaks against nuclear waste technology from running the plants to storing the waste.
The xy17% formula savings only work if x and y jobs are not filled on the death of those soldiers–and they always are==so no savings whatsoever.
The cause of the crash will never come out. If it does, odds are they will blame the pilots if they played any role at all. Easy to tell though–watch and see how long all the planes remain grounded.
To that point, a 20 year old plane always crashes due to lack of preventative maintenance–just like the rest of the infrastructure of the GOUSA.
#20
> The xy17% formula savings only work if x and y
> jobs are not filled on the death of those
> soldiers–and they always are==so no savings
> whatsoever.
If we are going to additionally account for the higher cost of soldiers then wouldn’t that make it easier to justify the cost of the B2?
(Btw, I had considered writing a fancier formula but writing anything but the simplest math equations in Html is royal pain. In addition, John used to provide a list of allowed tags. Does that list still exist somewhere?)
>>> # 14 Jeffery Williams
Using your math — the same billion instead spent on preventative heathcare would be at least X * (Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+
Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+Y+ even more)
#21–Thomas==not trying to lie with mathematics, just a straight forward analysis. There are I think just too many variables and debateable assumptions for a serious attempt at such a thing—but—it would be nice to see an honest stab at it ala “Freakonomics” or some such.
Now, let me guess…they tried flying the Billion-dollar, Big, Black, Bat, Brick without the Vista Service Pack installed. Dolts. Send the replacement invoice to Mr. Willy Gates, c/o MicroOOPS!
#23
Agreed. Although the B2 has flown thousands of missions without a crash, one cause for that record may be its incredibly high replacement cost. It would not be out of the realm of possibility to believe that generals were far more frugal and careful with B2 missions than they were with missions involving other aircraft.
#19;
WHY?
#25–Thomas–the issue is does it save money by saving soldiers lives? I think not. NOT invading Iraq would save us over a TRILLION dollars?
But, to your point–wasn’t the B2 the first wave strike aircraft in Iraq II==when Sadam was launching missles in the blind?
You remind me though of the C-5a airplane. cost like 500 Million a copy when the same size aircraft the 747 cost 27 Million each and could have been easily modified to carry 99% of the military needs. The cost was justified by the fact the C-5a could land in unprepared dirt fields.
Do you know the C-5a has never–NEVER–landed except on runways because the risk of losing it was not worth the effort?
It would be funny, if it weren’t so expensive.
#27
In the short run, avoiding a fight always saves more lives than fighting. However, there are times when that is not true in the long run. It is hard to estimate how many lives have been saved by killing a terrorist before they have a chance fly a plane into a building.
If Hussein’s military could have seen and target ed our incoming aircraft, do you not think they would have done so? That he was launching missiles blind is a testimony to the fact that he was unable to target them.
We could easily fill page upon page of military waste that was never used during combat. Is the B2’s stealth capability effect? Yes. Is it worth the cost? Tougher question. If stealth technology is not cost effective, then the B-52 should have been the last bomber we ever made.
#26 – because there are a LOT of folks who want to kill us because we don’t worship the right God, or we don’t beat our women, or we allow “filth” to go out over the airwaves, etc. There is NO appeasing them. We could pull out every single soldier and every single commercial enterprise from their crappy countries and they would still want to kill us.
Still hard to believe that one plane costs 1.2 billion dollars. Very hard to believe.