6 ms·

It is by no mean ancient. The introduction of the B-2 in service was ~24 years ago, this is one of the most recent jet in the US air force. By military standar

It is by no mean ancient. The introduction of the B-2 in service was ~24 years ago, this is one of the most recent jet in the US air force. By military standard it's definitely young. There are only 2 planes in service in the US more recent than that, the F-22 and F-35 (not counting transport aircrafts). Those planes are designed for lifespans of 50-100 years.

whalesalad 6y ago
My dad was at the Skunk Works for 20 years. He then went on to work at Northrop for a good chunk of time as well. The B-2 was started in the 70s and the maiden flight occurred while I was still baking in the womb. I realize aircraft can live a long time and can be retrofitted and upgraded with modern technology - but all things considered it is old. Not saying ancient is bad, either, but as far as organizations go, org knowledge, handoffs of info and books and writing etc... I am not surprised to see the need for reverse engineering.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> Those planes are designed for lifespans of 50-100 years. No, they weren't "designed" for a century. Think about it for a minute - would a military contractor even admit it if they did? There would be no new programs. :) The reason the B-52, F-16 (and T-38 for training, F-5 for aggressor training, etc.) are still around is because they were made in quantity. By contrast, the F-22 had a run of about 190 airframes, and the B-1/B-2's dozens each, with only a handful (like 3 - 5) of each model operational at any given time - it's really that bad. All they had to do for the B-52 was to update the avionics and add a cruise missile rotary launcher in the bomb hold. (Believe it or not, that is the main thing that keeps the B-52 in operations.) B-52 Rotary Launcher Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCjO43k-1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCjO43k-1Y

6 ms·

It is by no mean ancient. The introduction of the B-2 in service was ~24 years ago, this is one of the most recent jet in the US air force. By military standar

by Voloskaya 6y ago

whalesalad 6y ago
My dad was at the Skunk Works for 20 years. He then went on to work at Northrop for a good chunk of time as well. The B-2 was started in the 70s and the maiden flight occurred while I was still baking in the womb. I realize aircraft can live a long time and can be retrofitted and upgraded with modern technology - but all things considered it is old. Not saying ancient is bad, either, but as far as organizations go, org knowledge, handoffs of info and books and writing etc... I am not surprised to see the need for reverse engineering.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> Those planes are designed for lifespans of 50-100 years. No, they weren't "designed" for a century. Think about it for a minute - would a military contractor even admit it if they did? There would be no new programs. :) The reason the B-52, F-16 (and T-38 for training, F-5 for aggressor training, etc.) are still around is because they were made in quantity. By contrast, the F-22 had a run of about 190 airframes, and the B-1/B-2's dozens each, with only a handful (like 3 - 5) of each model operational at any given time - it's really that bad. All they had to do for the B-52 was to update the avionics and add a cruise missile rotary launcher in the bomb hold. (Believe it or not, that is the main thing that keeps the B-52 in operations.) B-52 Rotary Launcher Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCjO43k-1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCjO43k-1Y