America Has 20 B-2 Stealth Bombers—Guess How Many Can Fly Right Now? -- David Axe, War Is Boring
Nine, and that’s being generous
The most expensive warplane in history—and arguably the deadliest—is also one of the least available for combat.
The U.S. Air Force bought 21 B-2 stealth bombers from Northrop Grumman in the 1980s and 1990s at a price of more than $2 billion apiece, if you count development costs. One crashed on Guam in 2008, leaving 20 in the active fleet. But declining readiness—owing to maintenance and upgrades, wear and tear and cash shortages—routinely grounds 11 of the radar-evading, bat-wing bombers.
Just nine stealth bombers comprise America’s entire arsenal for directly striking, from the air, heavily defended targets over long range. And if you don’t count the several planes being used to train new aircrews, as the Air Force doesn’t, the number drops again to a mere handful.
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My Comment: The following Air Force Times article sums up why the U.S. Air Force numbers are declining .... Readiness declines in aging, overworked fleet -- Air Force Times
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