bombers is unknown the air force previously put the price at an average cost of 550 million each in 2010 dollars roughly 753 million today but its unclear how much is actually being spent the total will depend on how many bombers the pentagon buyswe will soon fly this aircraft test it and then move it into production and we will build the bomber force in numbers suited to the strategic environment ahead austin saidthe undisclosed cost troubles government watchdogsit might be a big challenge for us to do our normal analysis of a major program like this said dan grazier a senior defense policy fellow at the project on government oversight its easy to say that the b21 is still on schedule before it actually flies because its only when one of these programs goes into the actual testing phase when real problems are discovered that he said is when schedules start to slip and costs risethe b2 was also envisioned to be a fleet of more than 100 aircraft but the air force built only 21 due to cost overruns and a changed security environment after the soviet union fell fewer than that are ready to fly on any given day due to the significant maintenance needs of the aging bomberthe b21 raider which takes its name from the 1942 doolittle raid over tokyo will be slightly smaller than the b2 to increase its range warden said it wont make its first flight until 2023 however warden said northrop grumman has used advanced computing to test the bombers performance using a digital twin a virtual replica of the one unveiled fridayellsworth air force base in south dakota will house the bombers first training program and squadron though the bombers are also expected to be stationed at bases in texas and missourius sen mike rounds a republican of south dakota led the states bid to host the bomber program in a statement he called it the most advanced weapon system ever developed by our country to defend ourselves and our alliesnorthrop grumman has also incorporated maintenance lessons learned from the b2 warden saidin october 2001 b2 pilots set a record when they flew 44 hours straight to drop the first bombs in afghanistan after the sept 11 attacks the b2 often does long roundtrip missions because there are few hangars globally that can accommodate its wingspan which limits where it can land for maintenance the hangars also must be airconditioned because the spirits windows dont open and hot climates can cook cockpit electronicsthe new raider will also get new hangars to accommodate its size and complexity warden saidhowever with the raiders extended range it wont need to be based intheater austin said it wont need logistical support to hold any target at riska final noticeable difference was in the debut itself while both went public in palmdale the b2 was rolled outdoors in 1988 amid much public fanfare given advances in surveillance satellites and cameras the raider