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United States: Cracked Stealth Bombers Keep Flying The U.S. Air Force has found cracks in 16 B-2 stealth bombers, but the damage is not significant enough to ground the 21-plane fleet, U.S. Defense Department officials said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 2). B-2 bombers participated in the first week of the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, but have only flown training missions since (see GSN, Oct. 29, 2001). The cracks, ranging up to nine inches long, were discovered on titanium plates behind engine exhausts, according to the New York Times. Air Force officials do not know what caused the cracks, and they have not developed any fixes, the Air Force said. Military officials believe the cracks pose little risk to the safety of the B-2s, and aircrews have continued to fly training missions, an Air Force spokesman said. Now, however, maintenance crews measure the cracks after each flight, the Times reported. Purchased for $2.2 billion apiece, the B-2 is also among the most expensive planes to maintain in the U.S. Air Force, according to the Times. The Air Force spends $150 million per year on depot maintenance and employs 1,000 workers to take care of the 21 B-2s stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. A recent Pentagon assessment found that the average B-2 was available for combat duty only 31 percent of the time in 2001, down from 37 percent in 2000. The Air Force aims to keep its aircraft combat-ready 60 percent of the time. (James Dao, New York Times, March 20).
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