Yes on both accounts--both the B-52 and the B-1 are capable of the same
range with mid-air refueling. Same goes for USAF fighers--F-15Es flew 15
hour+ sorties during OEF with air refueling, flying from bases in the
Persian Gulf to Afghanistan and back. This is not a new thing with the B-2.
The other thing to realize is that the $2 billion per aircraft price tag is
a bit misleading--that is the entire cost of the B-2 program, which includes
things such as construction at Whiteman for the jet, all of the R&D, etc,
etc, ,divided by the number of jets built. The original B-2 program was for
135 aircraft, which would have meant that the costs would have been
amortized by many more aircraft, and thus the "per jet" cost would have been
much less.

Spot

B-1 WSO


"BackToNormal" wrote in message
p.nnz...
Is the following accurate?

"The U.S. Air Force's most expensive bomber is the B-2. It is a stealth
bomber built by Northrop Grumman. Its price tag was near $2 billion per
aircraft. This plane is capable of flying to any target in the world
from its base in the center of the United States and back without
stopping anywhere by means of midair refueling".

Costs for a start. AND, isn't a B52 also capable of flying non stop from
US to anywhere in world and return courtesy of midair refuelling. B1?
Others?

ronh

--
"People do not make decisions on facts, rather,
how they feel about the facts" Robert Consedine