$1.2 Billion and the crash of the B-2 Stealth Bomber during WARGAME

[rphope]

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=100&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=20852

12:00 p.m. Guam - Few details are emerging from the reported crash of a B-2 bomber on the tarmac of Andersen Air Force Base this morning.

Witnesses said the military aircraft crashed before it could take off from the airfield at around 10:45 a.m. The pilots were able to escape with no injuries. Andersen's Fire Department is on the scene, putting out the blaze.

The Pacific News Center will provide updates as it becomes available. Meanwhile, all aircraft scheduled to land at Andersen have been diverted to the Guam International Airport.

This is the second military aircraft to crash in the region in about two weeks. It can be recalled that a Navy Prowler went down in waters north of Guam recently. The pilot and three crewmembers were able to eject from the aircraft before it crashed to the sea. They were treated at the Navy Hospital. The aircraft, however, was reportedly lost at sea.

[otero1]

B-2 Bomber crashing is pretty nasty.

[Dig]

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=100&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=20839

NEWS UPDATE: Witnesses Say Aircraft On Fire A B-2
Pacific News Center Staff Reporter 23.FEB.08
11:56 a.m. Guam - The military aircraft that was reported on fire at Andersen Air Force Base has been confirmed by witnesses to be a B-2 bomber that appeared to have crashed on the tarmac.

The pilots were able to escape without injury. Andersen Air Force Base Fire Department firefighters are on the scene. There's still no official word from the Air Force about the incident. The Pacific News Center will have more information as it becomes available.

[Dig]

[Dig]

http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

KUAM News has learned that a B-2 stealth bomber crashed at Andersen Air Force Base this morning. The incident happened at around 10:45am Saturday, as information we've gathered so far indicates that a lead B-2 aircraft took off and became safely airborne, but when minutes later a second bomber took off for reasons that are unknown at this point, that aircraft crashed.

However, at least two pilots were ejected before the plane hit. Their conditions are unknown at this time. AAFB public affairs officials have not been able to be reached for comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, Yigo residents have reported that they've seen large plumes of black smoke coming from the nearby military base. Additionally, according to Guam Fire Department Angel Llagas, a large explosion was also reported to the island's 911 service this morning, and two units responded to the area.

This is the second military aircraft that has crashed in the last 11 days. On February 12 a Navy Ea-6b Prowler attached to the U.S.S. Kittyhawk strike group went down about 20 miles to the north of AAFB. All four of the pilots in that incident were released from the hospital with minor injuries.

Some facts about the B-2 Spirit Bomber:

- Assigned to 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron
- Homebased out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri
- Deployed to Guam as part of continuous bomber presence in Asia-Pacific region
- Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber
- Armament: Conventional/nuclear weapons
- Payload: 40,000 lbs.
- Crew: Two pilots
- Unit cost: Approximately $1.2 billion

[websuspect]

Yes been a mainstream rumor that its equipped with an Anti Gravity drive.

[Dig]

Looks like somebody was sending a message.  Have you ever heard of a B-2 crashing in the last 50 years?

[Dig]

3 days ago...



Air Force says budget must skyrocket
http://origin.connpost.com/localnews/ci_8299228
RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 02/19/2008 12:13:44 AM EST

WASHINGTON — Air Force officials are warning that unless their budget is increased dramatically, and soon, the military's high-flying branch won't dominate the skies as it has for decades.

After more than seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Air Force's aging jet fighters, bombers, cargo aircraft and gunships are at the breaking point, they say, and expensive, ultramodern replacements are needed fast.

"What we've done is put the requirement on the table that says, 'If we're going to do the missions you're going to ask us to do, it will require this kind of investment,"' Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force's director of strategic planning, said in an interview with the Associated Press.

"Failing that, we take what is already a geriatric Air Force," Selva said, "and we drive it for another 20 years into an area of uncertainty."

An extra $20 billion each year over the next five — beginning with an Air Force budget of about $137 billion in 2009 instead of the $117 billion proposed by the Bush administration — would solve that problem, according to Selva and other senior Air Force officers.

Yet the prospects for huge infusions of cash seem dim. Congress is expected to boost the 2009 budget, but not to the level urged by the Air Force. In the years that follow, a possible recession, a rising federal deficit and a distaste for higher taxes all portend a decline in defense spending, regardless of which party wins the White House in
Advertisement
November.

"The Air Force is going to be confronting a major procurement crisis because it can't buy all the things that it absolutely needs," said Dov Zakheim, a former Pentagon comptroller. "It's going to force us to rethink, yet again, what is the strategy we want? What can we give up?"

The Air Force's distress is partly self-inflicted, says Steve Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington. The F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning, the new jet fighters that will supplant the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon, have drastically higher price tags than their predecessors and require a bigger chunk of the defense budget.

"One of the reasons their equipment has aged so much is because they continue to move ahead with the development and presumed acquisition of new weapon systems that cost two to three times as much as the systems they are replacing," Kosiak said. "It's like replacing a Toyota with a Mercedes."

It's not as if the Air Force has gone without any new airplanes. The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the C-17 Globemaster airlifter and the CV-22 tilt-rotor, which flies like a helicopter or an airplane, have all been added since the mid-1990s.

The Air Force also is planning to spend between $30 billion and $40 billion over the next 15 years for new refueling tankers. A contract is expected to be awarded soon, but those new tankers won't be flying until 2013.

The Air Force isn't alone in wanting more money, but its appetite is far greater than the other military branches. Shortly after President Bush submitted his defense plan for the 2009 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, each service outlined for Congress what it felt was left out. The Air Force's "wish list" totaled $18.8 billion, almost twice as much as the other three services combined.

"There's no justification for it. Period. End of story," said Gordon Adams, a former Clinton administration budget official who specializes in defense issues. "Until someone constrains these budget requests, the hunger for more will charge ahead unchecked."

Current F-15s and F-16s are on average more than 20 years old and have reached a point where spending more money on extensive repairs is a poor investment, Selva said. Originally designed to last 4,000 flying hours, both have been extended beyond 8,000.

An F-15 with a comparatively low 5,000 flying hours disintegrated during a routine training flight over Missouri in early November. For the Air Force, that crash has become a touchstone event that demonstrates the precarious state of a fleet collectively older than any in the service's 60-year history.

Following the Missouri accident, more than 400 F-15s were grounded as Air Force mechanics scoured them for defects that might cause a similar accident. The F-15, a twin-engine jet with a top speed of 1,875 miles per hour, is the anchor of the nation's air defense network.

As aircraft age, corrosion eats away at metal parts. Wiring and sealing begin to deteriorate. The fatigue, which can be hard to detect, is most acute in fighters that make turns while going at incredible speeds.

"An hour is not an hour" to an aircraft constantly under the strain of G-forces, Gen. John D.W. Corley, head of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va., said at a news conference last month. "It's like dog years."

The more an aircraft is flown, the more expensive and more extensive maintenance becomes, Corley and Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee during a Feb. 6 hearing.

The bottom line, the generals said, is older aircraft are in the shop more often and cost more to fly when they are available.

[rphope]

This is the future of our Military equipment if we keep fighting never ending wars....

EDIT: The future is now unfortunately.

[Dig]

11 years ago (something is going on with this stealth technology that has not been released yet...)

DATE: Wednesday, September 17, 1997         TAG: 9709170484
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:  142 lines
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1997/vp970917/09170484.htm
TWO MORE MILITARY JETS COLLIDE

WARNER WANTS TO PROHIBIT STEALTH PLANES AT AIR SHOWS

Two Air Force fighter jets collided Tuesday night off the coast of New Jersey, raising the total of crashed U.S. military planes to six over the past three days. The unusual run of accidents interrupt what had been a banner year for safety in military aviation. The crashes left 14 service members dead or missing and prompted Virginia Sen. John W. Warner to introduce legislation to bar the Air Force from flying or displaying its showpiece F-117 and B-2 ``stealth'' warplanes at public air shows. The planes, costing $100 million and $2 billion [what did they go down to half price during 11 years of inflation?], respectively, are the priciest in the Pentagon's tactical inventory. The Air Force quotes the fighter's price at $45 million, but that does not include research and other costs. Air Force leaders, however, argued that the stealth planes' public relations benefits outweigh the risks. ``I just do not believe that this type of asset can be put at this type of risk'' Warner told fellow senators. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen disagreed, saying, ``I don't think we should ever rule out any aircraft participating in shows.'' An F-117A making low-level passes as part of an air show went down in a suburban Baltimore neighborhood Sunday afternoon. The pilot ejected safely seconds before impact, and miraculously, no one on the ground was seriously injured. After the New Jersey crash Tuesday, which occurred about 60 miles southeast of Atlantic City over the Atlantic Ocean, one F-16 pilot managed to land safely. He kept an eye on the two pilots of the other F-16 until the Coast Guard rescued them, officials said.

One airman suffered a head gash and a bruised pelvis. Another suffered minor injuries. Both were taken to Atlantic City Medical Center. Two Marines died in the Monday night crash of an F/A-18D in North Carolina; on Sunday a Navy pilot was killed when his F/A-18 went down in Oman; and nine Air Force fliers were lost after an apparent mid-air collision with a German plane east of Africa. ``One accident is one accident too many,'' said Kenneth Bacon, the Defense Department's top spokesman, promising that each of the recent crashes will be thoroughly investigated. But Bacon stressed that the services believe that despite the recent surge in accidents, they will finish the federal fiscal year Sept. 30 with a major accident rate of only 1.5 per 100,000 hours flown, matching the all-time record set in 1996. A Navy official said the sea service expects to finish the fiscal year with an accident rate of just over 1.3 per 100,000 hours, its lowest ever. F/A-18s, the workhorses of the service's air power, have been involved in just two major accidents, with just one flier killed, during the year, the official said. Near Baltimore Tuesday, military and civilian authorities continued to search the site on Sunday's F-117A crash, looking for clues as to why parts of the plane apparently broke off as it roared over the air show. Because much about the radar-evading fighter remains classified, residents living in the crash area were still barred from their homes.

Warner said concerns about cost and the possibility that sensitive information about the F-117 and the B-2, the Air Force's other stealth plane, could fall into unfriendly hands also motivated his call for an end to their participation in public air shows. But the Virginian said the Air Force should be able to continue using the planes in military shows, which he likened to training exercises. Most bases are expansive enough that an accident would likely occur in an area the military can easily secure, Warner suggested. Cohen, speaking at a gathering celebrating the Air Force's 50th birthday, urged lawmakers to ``wait and see what the facts show'' before deciding whether to block use of the stealth planes in air shows. Gen. Michael Ryan, President Clinton's nominee to be the Air Force chief of staff, also defended using the planes in shows. At his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Ryan said the military needs to show Americans what they are paying for. ``It ought to be visible to them. They ought to see that we have great capabilities within our armed forces,'' he told the Armed Services Committee. He also said the participation of the more advanced aircraft, like the radar-evading F-117A that was a hero of the Persian Gulf War, also helps Air Force recruiting and deters would-be aggressors.

Among the recent military crashes, Sunday's loss of an Air Force C-141 in an apparent mid-air collision with a German military transport off the Namibian coast was the most serious and also the most puzzling to authorities. The accident, in which 24 German troops also apparently perished, occurred in good weather. An Air Force general overseeing recovery operations Tuesday said the chance of two such planes colliding in that area under those conditions ``is very small,'' comparing it to the chance that BBs fired from two guns in a medium-sized room would collide. U.S., South African, and German forces were working Tuesday to recover bodies and the ``black boxes'' that record flight data from each plane in an effort to learn the cause of the incident. In North Carolina, meanwhile, Marine officials recovered the bodies of Capt. Stephen S. McDonald, 30, of Sugar Land, Texas, and Capt. Brian Smith, 28, of Nashville, Tenn., from the Pamlico Sound on Tuesday. Smith was the pilot and McDonald the weapons and sensor officer aboard the Marine F/A-18D Hornet that crashed Monday night in the sound. The plane crashed at the Piney Island Bombing range about 8:35 p.m. Monday while on a bombing training mission, officials at nearby Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station said.  The bombing range sprawls over land and water about 26 miles northeast of Morehead City, and the water is relatively shallow. MEMO: Staff writer Jack Dorsey contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos ``I just do not believe that this type of asset can be put at this type of risk,'' Sen. John W. Warner told fellow senators.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Military officials are investigating the series of air crashes from the past three days. In Baltimore, members of the 89th Civil Engineer Squad survey the site of Sunday's F-117A stealth fighter crash. Graphics

ROUGH STRETCH FOR MILITARY AIR SAFETY

OFF THE NEW JERSEY COAST: Two F-16s collided Tuesday about 60 miles southeast of Atlantic City. One pilot managed to land safely, and he kept an eye on the two pilots from the other plane until the Coast Guard rescued them. At least two of the pilots were slightly injured.

NORTH CAROLINA: A Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet crashed Monday night while practicing bombing runs over the Pamlico Sound. Two people on board were killed. The plane was from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 224 at Beaufort, S.C. MARYLAND: An F-117A stealth fighter flying in an air show went down in Baltimore on Sunday. The pilot ejected safely, and no one on the ground was seriously injured.

OMAN: An F/A-18 Hornet crashed Sunday during a training exercise, killing the pilot. The aircraft was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron-15, based in Jacksonville, Fla., and operated from the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy. OFF THE AFRICAN COAST: A C-141 cargo plane with nine Air Force fliers was lost Saturday after an apparent collision with a German  plane. The U.S. plane was en route from Namibia to Ascension Island  in the south Atlantic.

[70983]

1.2 billion dollars of our money just went down the toilet, thats about 4 bucks a person...say goodbye to your lunch

[Dig]

Remember the unbelievably odd double collision on the lunar ecliple/nuke missile defense test day?


F-15 crash analysis continues
Surviving pilot released from base hospital
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/NEWS01/80222006/1006
Thyrie Bland and Troy Moon
tbland@pnj.com
tmoon@pnj.com

Thomas Niquet and his crew heard the call over their fishing boat's radio - two Air Force jets had gone down over the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't long before they saw fuel on the water, a piece of a jet wing and a life raft, said Niquet, 54, a commercial red snapper fisherman from Lynn Haven. He never expected the next sight: one of the pilots alive and floating in the Gulf. "All that (equipment) he had on him, he couldn't swim," said Niquet, who first spotted the pilot. "I just asked him if he needed a lift. He said, 'Yeah.' " Eglin Air Force Base is continuing to investigate what happened Wednesday afternoon when two F-15C Eagle jets, part of the 33rd Fighter Wing, collided over the Gulf, killing one of the pilots.

That pilot's family was notified of his death Wednesday evening, said Sgt. Bryan Franks, an Eglin spokesman. The other pilot - picked up by Niquet's crew - was released from the Eglin hospital in good condition Wednesday night. The Air Force has not released the name of either pilot. The U.S. Coast Guard received word the pilots were in "distress" about 1:50 p.m. and sent search and rescue crews in an airplane, boats and helicopters. Emergency personnel were dispatched from Mobile, Clearwater, Panama City and New Orleans.

The jets went down some 34½ miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base, several miles east of Panama City. Niquet and his crew - Larry Aultman and Mike Pampanin - already were out in the Gulf aboard a 35-foot fishing boat, The Nina, owned by Niquet's father.  Niquet wasn't sure what time he spotted the pilot but said it was about half an hour after seeing the raft. He said he also saw a parachute beneath the water.  Niquet said his crew struggled to get the pilot on the boat because of all the gear he had on. "He was fine, a little cold, going into hyperthermia," Niquet said. "Once we got him warm, he was OK. We covered him in a blanket."  The pilot asked for water and to use the boat's radio. "He just communicated with them that he was alive, and he was worried about the other pilot," Niquet said. Niquet and his crew then spotted a Navy research ship nearby and took the pilot to the ship. About 5 p.m., the pilot was hoisted into a Coast Guard helicopter. The same helicopter spotted the second pilot in the water, and that pilot subsequently was taken aboard the chopper. Eglin halted all training flights for its F-15 pilots Thursday.  Franks said the more than 80 pilots and hundreds of airmen at Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing were mourning the fallen pilot. Flags were flown at half-staff. "It's a very somber day," Franks said. "Everyone in the 33rd, from maintenance to operations, we are all hurting together." Franks said a family liaison officer has been assigned to assist the families of the pilots. He also said there were chaplains on the base to help those in need of solace.

Investigation continues

Now, investigators try to find out what caused the crash. The jets were doing a routine air-combat training exercise, when they apparently collided in mid-air, Col. Todd Harmer, commander of the 33rd Training Wing, said. Both pilots had been with the 33rd Fighter Wing "for quite some time," Harmer said.  Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Bob Buhrow, 77, of Fort Walton Beach said mid-air collisions are usually caused by inattention or an error in judgment. "They're trying to judge spatial relations at a high rate of speed," Buhrow said. "It's a high-intensity operation, and accidents happen, and there's nothing you can do. Accidents are always going to happen." Buhrow is a former Air Force pilot who never flew the F-15 but is more familiar than most with the aircraft. In the 1970s, he was an Air Force aircraft procurement officer at the Pentagon, charged with purchasing the planes.

The F-15, a tactical fighter with a range of 3,450 miles and a top speed of 1,875 mph, made its debut in 1972. The Air Force began using the F-15C model in 1979. The planes, built by McDonnell Douglas Corp., were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 and have also been used in support of military operations in Iraq, Turkey and Bosnia. Each plane costs about $30 million, according to the Air Force. "It's a great airplane, probably the premier air-to-air fighter in the world," Buhrow said. "But the problem is, it's getting long in the tooth." Buhrow said an advantage of the F-15 when it was first introduced was its low maintenance requirements. Individual pieces could be replaced if a malfunction occurred instead of replacing complete systems such as an engine. But as they age, they require more maintenance than they did previously, Buhrow said. "It's like an old car," he said. "The older they get, the more maintenance they need."

Planes had been grounded

The Air Force grounded all of its F-15s - nearly 700 - after the failure of an F-15C during a training flight in Missouri in November. The pilot safely ejected and most of the planes were back in service by January. "Even though it's been a great plane, it badly needs to be replaced," Buhrow said. Still, he said, the plane did have its day. "How good was it?" he asked. "That's a question that a lot of MiG (Soviet Union/Russian jet fighter) pilots could better answer. They had to eat the missiles." The Air Force plans to eventually replace the F-15s with the F-22 Raptor, though some F-15s would remain operational. The F-22 uses stealth technology, but would cost at least $176 million per plane, according to the Center for Defense Information. "As good as the F-15 has been, the F-22 is far more superior," Buhrow said. "It's like going into the 22nd century."

[rphope]

Wonder if we are running Valiant Shield II?



http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/01/29/guam-army-guard-in-philippines-military-exercise

A unit of the Guam U.S. Army National Guard will take part in an annual military training exercise with Philippine Army on Luzon, the Pacific Daily News reports.

About 190 members of the 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry will drill with members of the New Mexico Army National Guard as part of "Balikatan," an annual  U.S. Pacific Command exercise that develops military-to-military relations between the U.S. and the Philippines. This year's exercise will take place at Fort Magsaysay on Luzon.

The Guam battalion will be in charge of the field training portion of Balikatan. It is the sixth year that the Guam-based unit has participated in the training exercise.

The military exercise will take place from Feb. 16 to March 3.

[Dig]

yup a 2 billion failed exercise. 

we "lose" a $2 billion plane that has never crashed in 30 years of use?

This is a total anomolly from the B-2 historical standpoint.

[rphope]

Remember the unbelievably odd double collision on the lunar ecliple/nuke missile defense test day?

All I can say is this has been a really weird week.

[70983]

Right now i'm just worried about my lunch...

[constitutional911]

In a first, $1.2 billion stealth crashes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080223/ap_on_re_us/b2_crash



HAGATNA, Guam - A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said. ADVERTISEMENT

The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii.

At least one B-2 bomber had taken off safely from Andersen Air Force Base but was brought back when another aircraft plunged to the ground.

There were no injuries on the ground or damage to buildings, and no munitions were on board. Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion to build.

Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the wreckage at Andersen, said Jeanne Ward, a resident in the northern village of Yigo who was on the base visiting her husband.

Ward said she didn't witness the crash but noticed a rising plume of smoke behind the base's air control tower.

She said crowds began to gather as emergency vehicles arrived. "Everybody was on their cell phones, and the first thing everyone wanted to know was did the pilots make it out in time," she said.

The Air Force, without identifying the pilots, said one was medically evaluated and released, and the other was in stable condition at Guam Naval Hospital.

A board of officers will investigate what caused the bat-like aircraft to crash at 10:30 a.m., shortly after taking off from a runway. It was the first crash of a B-2 bomber, said Capt. Sheila Johnston, a spokeswoman for Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the Air Force has been rotating several of them through Guam since 2004, along with B-1 and B-52 bombers.

The rotations are designed to boost the U.S. security presence in the Asia-Pacific region while other U.S. forces diverted to fight in the Middle East.

The B-2 was first publicly displayed in 1988 and took its first flight a year later. The first bomber was delivered to Whiteman in 1993.

The bombers on Guam were scheduled to return to Missouri now that six B-52s from the 96th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., have arrived to replace them.

The distinctive B-2 is described as a "multi-role bomber" that blends stealth technology with a highly efficient aerodynamic design. It is able to deliver large payloads at great range and has been used in combat over Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The accident occurred 11 days after a Navy plane crashed into the ocean about 20 miles northeast of Guam's Ritidian Point. Four aircrew members ejected from the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft and were rescued by helicopter.

Guam is a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

[Sub-X]

US B-2 stealth bomber crashes in Guam.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/23/wbomber123.xml
23/02/2008

An American B-2 stealth bomber - one of the most expensive planes ever made - has crashed, leaving the US military with a £610 million bill.

Two pilots on board the bomber managed to eject safely before the crash, which occurred near Andersean Air Force Base, on the American island territory of Guam, 3,700 miles south-west of Hawaii.

The crash happened shortly after take-off, sending thick black smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane, which was one of just 21 B-2 bombers in the US Air Force.

One of the pilots was in hospital in a stable condition and the other was released after a brief medical examination, the US Air Force said.

"They have been evaluated by medical authorities and are in good condition," it said in a statement.

An inquiry will be held into why the aircraft, which was based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, crashed. The US military would not comment on the purpose of the plane’s doomed flight.

The B-2 bomber can evade most radar signals making it difficult for defensive systems to detect, track and attack.
 
It has a range of 6,000 nautical miles (6,850 miles) without refuelling and has been used for missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Serbia. Guam - which was captured from Spain by US forces in 1898 - has been a bomber base since March 2004. B-52, B-2 and B-1 bombers deploy on rotation from bases on the US mainland.

The crash came just two days after two F-15C Eagles jet fighters collided off the coast of Florida on Wednesday, killing one pilot.

Both pilots from the single-seat jets ejected from their planes and were rescued after a search by US Coast Guard and local fishing vessels. Both were alive when rescued, but one pilot died soon after.

The US Air Force grounded its about 450 of its 700-strong F-15 fleet in November, after one failed during a training flight in Missouri, forcing a pilot to eject. He survived with minor injuries.

[MikiQuick123]

Stealth bomber crashes on Guam
Two pilots eject safely, Air Force says
 Video

 
  Billion-dollar B-2 crashes in Guam
  Feb. 23: Military investiagtors are looking into what may have caused the first crash of a B-2 bomber, in Guam. MSNBC's Alex Witt reports.
MSNBC
 

 Video: Military news
Billion-dollar B-2 crashes in Guam
  Feb. 23: Military investiagtors are looking into what may have caused the first crash of a B-2 bomber, in Guam. MSNBC's Alex Witt reports.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 


 
 updated 3 minutes ago
HAGATNA, Guam - A B-2 stealth bomber crashed Saturday at an air base on Guam, but both pilots ejected safely and were in good condition, the Air Force said.

It was the first crash of a B-2 bomber, said Capt. Sheila Johnston, a spokeswoman for Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the wreckage at Andersen Air Force Base, said Jeanne Ward, a resident in the northern village of Yigo who was on the base visiting her husband.

Story continues below ↓
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advertisement

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Ward said she didn't witness the crash but noticed a rising plume of smoke behind the base's air control tower.

She said crowds began to gather as emergency vehicles arrived. "Everybody was on their cell phones, and the first thing everyone wanted to know was did the pilots make it out in time," she said.

A board of officers will investigate the accident.

Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion to build. All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the Air Force has been rotating several of them through Guam since 2004, along with B-1 and B-52 bombers.

The rotations are designed to boost the U.S. security presence in the Asia-Pacific region while other U.S. forces diverted to fight in the Middle East.

The B-2 was first publicly displayed in 1988 and took its first flight a year later. The first bomber was delivered to Whiteman in 1993.

The accident occurred 11 days after a Navy plane crashed into the ocean about 20 miles northeast of Guam's Ritidian Point. Four aircrew members ejected from the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft and were rescued by helicopter.

Guam is a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[pistileer]

It seems wise to assume that what is most significant about the report of a failed take-off and crash of a B-2 Stealth Bomber at a somewhat remote air facility in Guam, is the possibility of it being a ruse to decomission one of these Billion dollar aircraft from the ranks. The very real possibility is that the alleged "downed aircraft" could now be used to deliver the bomb needed to institute martial law under the guise that we have been attacked by Russia or some other unfortunate nation. The powers of secrecy may certainly have been used as "national security", in falsifying of reports. It very well may have been some other aircraft, errant missile or bomb, maybe even a crash of some new secret aircraft. Regardless of the reports, the implication's are still of great concern. The possibilities which these new developments may predict, have a wide range of operational and covert implications. I believe it would be wise for everybody to keep their mind's open and their eye's peeled. Peace.