The Last Of 17 B-1B Bombers Slated For Early Retirement Has Arrived At The Boneyard
Last year, Congress approved the Air Force's plan to divest a number of B-1Bs as it consolidates that fleet ahead of the arrival of the stealthy B-21.
By Joseph Trevithick September 24, 2021
The War Zone
The last of a group of 17 B-1Bs slated for retirement leaves for the Bone Yard in September 2021.
The U.S. Air Force has successfully concluded the retirement of a group of 17 B-1B bombers, with the last of these aircraft arriving at the Bone Yard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona yesterday. This divestiture plan, which Congress approved last year, is intended to help consolidate the B-1B fleet and improve its readiness rates ahead of the type's complete replacement by the B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
In a press release, Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) announced that the last of these 17 B-1Bs slated for retirement had left Edwards Air Force Base in California yesterday and headed to the Bone Yard. The bomber in question carried serial number 85-0074. The first bomber in this group to be retired had left Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota back in February. These divestments mean that the Air Force now has 45 of these aircraft in service, down from 62 at the beginning of the year. The service, which received a total of 100 B-1Bs in the 1980s, had previously retired 33 of them as part of an earlier consolidation effort between 2002 and 2003, and has lost others to accidents over the years.
The B-1B bomber with the serial number 85-0074 ahead of its final flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California to the Bone Yard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on Sept. 23, 2021.
“The divesture plan was executed very smoothly,” Air Force Brigadier General Kenyon Bell, AFGSC’s Director of Logistics and Engineering, said in a statement. “With fewer aircraft in the B-1 fleet, maintainers will be able to give more time and attention to each aircraft remaining in the fleet.”
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42508/the-last-of-the-17-b-1b-bombers-slated-for-early-retirement-has-arrived-at-the-boneyard
