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| US Air Force Grounds Entire B-2 Spirit Nuclear Bomber Fleet |
Washington - The United States Air Force (US) grounded all 20 B-2 Spirit bombers until further notice. "This step was taken amid an ongoing search for potential safety flaws following recent accidents," said the Air Force Times report.
"The decision to ground the entire nuclear bomber fleet following the crash landing of one bomber on December 10 at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, following an undisclosed in-flight damage," the report said Monday.
According to reports, the Air Force is currently investigating the crash and all of the bombers will resume normal operations after safety inspections are completed.
The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of firing both conventional and nuclear munitions. "Its stealth characteristics make it difficult to detect with conventional infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar systems," the US Air Force said in a statement.
The bombers can fly about 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometers) without refueling. Earlier in December, Northrop Grumman unveiled its new nuclear-capable B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the world's first sixth-generation aircraft for delivery to the US Air Force.