\n\t\t\t\t
Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tFarewell, Bones: Air Force finishes latest round of B-1B bomber retirements<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Retiring B-1B and B-2 bombers will make way for the new B-21 Raider over the next two decades.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n
The Air Force owned 44 B-1Bs as of March 28, when the federal government released the number as part of its fiscal 2023 budget request. It originally bought 100 Lancers but the fleet had shrunk to 62 by 2021. The service received its first B-1B in 1985 and first deployed it in combat against Iraq in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to Dyess, B-1Bs are based at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, with a major maintenance shop at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. They no longer have a permanent presence in the Middle East, but still regularly fly to Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. Lancers carry nonnuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lancers are rarely destroyed; the last reported instance of a totaled B-1 occurred in fiscal 2013, according to Air Force Safety Center data<\/a> from December 2021. Still, the jets are often down for maintenance after suffering from years of overuse in U.S. Central Command, particularly on missions the bomber was not designed to handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOn average, the B-1s suffer about three Class A mishaps, the most damaging accidents, per 100,000 flight hours each year, the Safety Center said. Those mishaps cost at least $2.5 million in damages, destroy an aircraft, or cause permanent and total disability or death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n