B-2 nuke bomber fleet is temporarily grounded due to safety issue

The Air Power’s fleet of B-2 Spirit bombers is quickly grounded after one of many plane had an in-flight malfunction earlier this month.

On December 10, a B-2 needed to make an emergency touchdown and was broken on the runway at Whiteman Air Power Base in Missouri. There have been no accidents from the occasion, and no munitions aboard the plane, although the Air Power’s 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs introduced days later there can be a “security pause” of the fleet with a view to examine it additional.

The 509th Bomb Wing stated in a information launch on Tuesday night that the stand-down was directed by Air Power International Strike Command, and that the B-2 fleet “will be flown if directed by the commander in chief to satisfy mission necessities.”

Grasp Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio, a spokesperson for the 509th Bomb Wing, confirmed on Tuesday that B-2 flights had been presently paused because the fleet underwent an inspection, and stated there may be “no speculated finish date for the protection pause.”

“Each incident is exclusive, and we’re presently evaluating the incident and the way we are able to mitigate future danger,” Del Vecchio stated. “Regular operations will resume on the conclusion of the protection pause.”

An Air Power spokesperson stated Tuesday that the Whiteman Air Power Base runway was presently closed as a consequence of particles; the 509th Bomb Wing’s information launch on Tuesday says it is going to reopen as quickly because the particles is cleared, and B-2 operations “will resume on the conclusion of the protection stand-down.”

The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role heavy bomber, that means it may possibly carry each typical and nuclear munitions. The fleet of stealth plane is housed at Whiteman. In keeping with the Air Power, the primary B-2 was delivered at Whiteman in 1993, and shortly proved its fight effectiveness throughout Operation Allied Power, the NATO marketing campaign towards Serbia, and was later utilized in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

The B-2, in addition to the B-1, are anticipated to get replaced over time by the Air Power’s new B-21 Raider, a brand new stealth bomber plane that was unveiled by Northrop Grumman earlier this month. The B-21 occasion was the primary time a brand new US bomber was publicly unveiled because the B-2 Spirit in 1988.