Anyone who’s ever read anything about US military spending shouldn’t be surprised that the world’s most expensive aircraft was a Department of Defense project.

World's Most Expensive Aircraft

Created as part of a secret project in the 1980s, the expensive plane is a design executed with the Soviet Union in mind. The Northrop Grumman ATB (Advanced Technology Bomber) was designated the B-2 Spirit after it was chosen over a Lockheed/Rockwell design in 1981. The stealthy bomber was meant to be able to penetrate even the most impregnable anti-aircraft defenses.

The project didn’t turn out quite as expected, though. A redesign from high-altitude to low-altitude mission profile added two years and $1 billion to the project’s cost, bringing the total expenditure up to a reported $23 billion. Furthermore, the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in the production being limited to 20 planes—21 if you count an upgraded test bomber.

Reports on the cost of a single B-2 bomber vary from $737 million to $2.2 billion, but the most often cited figure for the most expensive aircraft in the world is $1.3 billion.

Similar Posts:

Share this post:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • MySpace
  • Google Bookmarks
  • del.icio.us
Liked this post? Subscribe via RSS feed or follow on twitter, right now!

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

donna October 2, 2009 at 11:55 pm

War is an enterprise indeed. If government had more money why not spend it feeding the poor people?

Reply

shujaat July 22, 2010 at 8:16 am

this is faryab yes you are rite i agree with u . but dis is a tecnologi

Reply

JESSICA January 14, 2010 at 11:14 pm

GREAT INFO FOR MY REPORT AND YOU HAVE EVERY THING I NEED FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY THNX!

Reply

JESSICA January 14, 2010 at 11:25 pm

OH AND CHRIS IF YOU COULD BUY TEN OF THESE PLANES THEN UH YOU NEED TO START SPENDING SOME MONEY XD

Reply

WYCLIFFE February 26, 2010 at 8:42 am

war also makes some people rich, not all people would be in
getting money from the some pot all i.e getting jobs such as
doctors and get there living.

Reply

sandeep May 22, 2010 at 9:37 am

yes we should make an dangerous & expensive aircraft for security

Reply

Dental Jobs June 1, 2010 at 4:34 am

It does like nice though. I wouldnt like to fly it, I think I would be abit nervous

Reply

chilikoh June 16, 2010 at 3:32 am

many people in africa and Asia are dying of hunger why the goverment spending such billions to build a plane instead of funding poor countries

Reply

Nick June 21, 2010 at 1:49 pm

We could also put the funds that educate people like chilikoh there to a much better use…like a new $23 billion aircraft!!

Reply

Carl July 18, 2010 at 10:41 pm

The cost of the B2 is puny compared to the cost of the 2 XB 70 Valkarie Mach 3 bombers.

1.5 billion in 1962 for 2 aircraft works out to about 5.5 billion each

Reply

shujaat July 22, 2010 at 8:21 am

my openion. the government should take a step to heilping the poor people and dnt play a game with us

Reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: