Each Reaper costs about $32 million. Russian jets crossed in front of a B-52 bomber that was flying over the Black Sea, and flew as close as 100 feet (30 meters) in front of the bomber’s Bombers can be used both for nuclear and for conventional missions. In these 10-year estimates, CBO attributes 25 percent of the costs of the B-52 bomber and the new B-21 bomber to the nuclear mission and 75 percent to the conventional mission. Therefore, only 25 percent of the cost of replacing the engines on the B-52 is included in this estimate. The B-21 has its roots in the Air Force’s Next-Generation Bomber (NGB) program.6 Begun in 2004 as a congressional initiative to explore new technologies, NGB grew in response to the 2006 1 Mike Martin, The B-21 hasa name: Raider , U.S. Air Force, Press release, Washington, DC, September 19, 2016, The total cost to build a B-52 bomber was $2.5 million in the early 1950s. That’s equivalent to about $22 million today. The B-52 is one of the most successful aircraft ever built. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $49 billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. [4] [5] The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. Landings are made equally flat and flare-free. With its huge Fowler flaps deployed, a B-52’s attitude on approach is virtually the same as in cruise. The B-52 proved to be a supremely capable conventional bomber. This B-52D displays auxiliary fuel tanks and external pylons loaded with additional bombs. (U.S. Air Force) reportedly cost around $2.8 billion. Air & Space Forces magazine. first U.S. long-range, swept-wing heavy bomber. A total of 744 B-52s were produced. 76 of the aircraft are in the United States The Air Force is developing the B-21 to replace the aging B-1 and B-2 bombers. The current plan is to procure at least 100 new bombers that would begin to enter service in the mid- to late-2020s zLB0o.