The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers hasn’t flown in nearly six months. The service placed its 20 remaining nuclear-capable bombers on a security pause after an incident that damaged one among the bombers in December 2022. The Air Force insists that the bombers are still ready for motion, if essential, and that the pilots are continuing to coach to keep up combat-readiness.
Specifically, the bombers were grounded after an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, based on Air & Space Forces Magazine. On December 10, 2022, a B-2 bomber ran off the runway through the course of the landing and caught fire, severely damaging the aircraft. Neither of the 2 crew members aboard were injured.
The Air Force issued a worldwide B-2 stand down on December 19. Nineteen of the 20 bombers were stationed at Pearl Harbor on the time, while the twentieth B-2 was at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, a frequent stopover area for bombers headed to the Asia-Pacific region. Essentially the most recent Google Maps imagery at highest resolution shows three B-2s on the bottom on the airport, in addition to C-5M Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, and C-130 transports; and KC-135 Stratotankers.
The Air Force has not yet disclosed the explanation for the December crash, nevertheless it was the second incident in only one yr. A previous incident in September 2021, also at Whiteman, was later revealed to have involved worn landing gear springs. The aircraft was sent to the Air Force’s secretive Plant 42, the house of the unique B-2 production line, for repairs.
Only 21 B-2s were built—far in need of the unique Cold War requirement for 132 of the bombers. The fleet is small and precious, yet is the one heavy bomber able to penetrating heavily defended airspace, so the Air Force will repair damaged jets if in any respect possible. The one B2 ever declared a total loss got here in 2008 at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Despite the efforts of firefighting crews, the plane burned to the bottom.
Whatever the prolonged grounding, the Air Force maintains the planes are still able to perform nuclear deterrence missions. The B-2, in addition to about half the fleet of B-52 Stratofortress bombers, are the one nuclear-capable bombers within the Air Force arsenal. The remaining B-52s and B-1 bombers have been denuclearized, their ability to hold nuclear weapons deleted to meet arms-control agreements with Russia.
The Air Force also states that the pilots are still racking up flying hours, either in other aircraft or in simulators. Very similar to U-2 pilots, B-2 pilots will often take to the skies in T-38 Talon jet trainers to keep up their basic flying proficiency. The T-38 is extremely maneuverable and cheap to operate—a definite advantage over the B-2, which costs upward of $150,000 an hour to fly.
The B-2 is anticipated to fly on through the early 2030s, when the forthcoming B-21 Raider bomber replaces each the stealth bomber and the B-1.