The U.S. Air Force is grounding its entire fleet of B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers, after one of the aircraft caught fire during an emergency landing. The bat-winged heavy bombers are among the most powerful weapons in the U.S. military and were first launched into the skies back in 1989.
Capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons, the B-2 bomber has been battle tested in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. They have also been deployed more recently into Europe as a show of force amid the Ukraine War.
The move to ground the B-2 fleet indefinitely is significant because these aircraft serve as a component to America’s nuclear triad, the system which makes up the backbone of U.S. national security, according to the Department of Defense.
Meanwhile, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for other U.S. military technology. New video shows an F-35 recently malfunctioning at an air base in Fort Worth, Texas. It follows a slew of other incidents that have made headlines recently
Each unit of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers costs about $1.1 billion to produce, and the military says they have about 20 of them.
Officials have not confirmed how long the fleet will be out of service.
