Air Force grounds ENTIRE B-2 Spirit fleet after fire during emergency landing

The United States Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers after one of the $2bn jets caught fire during an emergency landing. 

Military officials took the drastic measure over safety fears while each plane is checked over.

A bomber experienced an in-flight malfunction on December 10 and then caught fire during an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the fleet is based. The fire was extinguished and nobody was hurt.

A B-2 Spirit will no longer perform a scheduled flyover at the 2023 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, on January 2 and a B-1 Lancer will be used instead.

The $2bn jets, the world's most expensive aircraft, entered active service in 1989. Earlier this month, the Pentagon unveiled a replacement for the B-2 Spirit, the B-21 Raider, described as the 'most advanced military aircraft ever built'.

A bomber experienced an in-flight malfunction on December 10 and then caught fire during an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the fleet is based.

The B-2 was scheduled to fly over the 2023 Rose Bowl Game but it will be replaced by the B-1 Lancer, the 509th Bomb Wing said in a statement. Pictured: The flyover before the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game between Utah and Ohio State on New Year's Day 2021

The stand-down is significant because there are fewer than 20 stealth bombers in the entire fleet and the aircraft provides, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air leg of the nation's nuclear triad

The stand-down is significant because there are fewer than 20 stealth bombers in the entire fleet and the aircraft provides, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air leg of the nation's nuclear triad.

The B-2 has been regularly deployed to the Indo-Pacific and more recently to Europe as a show of force. During the stand-down the entire fleet will be inspected, 509th Bomb Wing spokeswoman Air Force Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio said. 

Earlier this month, the US Air Force publicly unveiled the next-generation stealth bomber intended to replace the B-2 Spirit.

The B-2 has been in service since 1989 but will soon be replaced by the B-21 Raider, the 'most advanced military aircraft ever built'

Pentagon officials and representatives of contractor Northrop Grumman revealed the B-21 Raider at a dramatic ceremony in Palmdale, California.

'This isn't just another airplane,' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. 'It's the embodiment of America's determination to defend the republic that we all love.'

Similar in shape to the B-2, a 'flying wing' design already in the Air Force's inventory, the B-21 be able to deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons around the world due to its long-range and mid-air refueling capabilities.

Each B-21, billed as a 'sixth generation bomber', was projected to cost approximately $550 million each in 2010 dollars, or about $750 million in today's inflation-adjusted dollars.

Pentagon officials and representatives of contractor Northrop Grumman revealed the B-21 Raider (seen under a large tarp) at a dramatic ceremony in Palmdale, California on December 2

Each B-21, which can deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs, was projected to cost approximately $550 million each in 2010 dollars, or about $750 million in today's inflation-adjusted dollars 

Similar in shape to the B-2, a 'flying wing' design already in the Air Force's inventory, the B-21 will also be able to deliver nuclear weapons around the world because of long-range and mid-air refueling capabilities

'This isn't just another airplane,' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. 'It's the embodiment of America's determination to defend the republic that we all love.'

The Air Force planned to buy at least 100 of the planes and begin to replace B-1 and B-2 bombers. 

The service has estimated that the program will likely cost at least $203 billion over 30 years to develop, purchase and maintain the B-21 fleet.

The B-21 is part of the Pentagon's efforts to modernize all three legs of its nuclear triad, which also includes silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads, as it shifts from the counterterrorism campaigns of recent decades to meet China's rapid military modernization.

China is on track to have 1,500 nuclear weapons by 2035, and its gains in hypersonics, cyber warfare and space capabilities present 'the most consequential and systemic challenge to U.S. national security and the free and open international system,' the Pentagon said in its annual China report.

Northrop is calling the plane a sixth generation aircraft given its ability to connect to other aircraft and easily integrate future weapons into its systems architecture. 

Other changes include advanced materials used in coatings to make the bomber harder to detect, Austin said.

'Fifty years of advances in low-observable technology have gone into this aircraft,' Austin said. 'Even the most sophisticated air defense systems will struggle to detect a B-21 in the sky.'

'This aircraft was possible because of American innovation,' said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the ceremony

As a crew of airmen drew back the tarp covering the sophisticated bomber, a cheer went up from the crowd of invited guests, excited to get their first glimpse of the plane after years of anticipation

Pentagon officials and representatives of contractor Northrop Grumman revealed the B-21 Raider at a dramatic ceremony in Palmdale, California on Friday night

The crowd of guests is seen at the unveiling ceremony where they caught the first glimpse of the plane

The US Air Force finally unveiled its secret B-21 stealth bomber aircraft in December and it is touted to be virtually 'invisible' to all enemy stealth radars thanks to the latest military tech

Other advances likely include new ways to control electronic emissions, so the bomber could spoof adversary radars and disguise itself as another object, and use of new propulsion technologies, several defense analysts said.

While the Raider may resemble the B-2, once you get inside, the similarities stop, said Kathy Warden, chief executive of Northrop, which is building the bomber.

'The way it operates internally is extremely advanced compared to the B-2, because the technology has evolved so much in terms of the computing capability that we can now embed in the software of the B-21,' Warden said.

Northrop beat out a team comprised of Boeing and Lockheed Martin when it won the 2015 contract to make the bomber, alongside suppliers including engine maker Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems and Spirit Aerosystems.