“It Was the Greatest Mistake We Ever Made”: The US Air Force Wanted 132 B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers and Ended Up with Just 21

Killed on live television in 1992, the B-2 became a $2.13 billion bomber by division: a $44.7 billion invention spread across just 21 aircraft — roughly $90 billion and $4.3 billion apiece in 2026 money. Now, with Russia and China risen and the B-21 line running, America faces the same sentence again.