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According to the article, the B-2 is of limited availability so while it could fulfill the mission parameters, it cannot meet the demand.

• blackflame7000 7y ago
  The Airforce wanted the stealth of the B2 with the speed of the B1 so Northrop built the B21.
  • greedo 7y ago
    I'm pretty sure that the B-21 won't have the speed of the Bone... Wrong airframe design, fewer engines, need for stealth, etc etc.
• jandrese 7y ago
  The B-2s problem is that it was obsolete before it was even built. Long range strategic stealth bombing isn't really a useful mission profile in a world with ICBMs or even ship launched cruise missiles.
  • ceejayoz 7y ago
    It lets you surprise an enemy like Libya with 80 JDAMs. For the cost of about one of those cruise missiles ($25k/JDAM versus $1.4m Tomahawks), and a lot less likely to be intercepted by air defenses.
    • jandrese 7y ago
      Yeah, but you need to add in the cost of the B2 per flight hour on top of that. It's hard to argue a cost savings with anything related to the B2 program.
      • ceejayoz 7y ago
        $135,000/hour, which means you get 1-2 more Tomahawks in a mission. The B-2 still comes out very much on top there.