U.S. Air Force plans to retire 17 B-1B Lancer bombers during 2021
by Dylan Malyasov
09:23 (GMT+0000) February 27, 2020
The U.S. Air Force has announced plans to retire 17 B-1B Lancer long-range bombers during Fiscal Year 2021.
The Scramble Magazine reported on Wednesday, citing the U.S. Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget Estimates, that more B-1B Lancers will be retired during 2021.
The Dutch aviation publication also added that on 17 September 2019, Gen. Goldfein said that over the last few years the USAF flew the B-1B in its least optimal configuration. The result of that are stresses on the aircraft that were not anticipated for its airframe. As a result, the Lancer fleet sees significant structural issues during depot maintenance. The B-1B averages 9,701 airframe hours as of January 2020.
https://defence-blog.com/news/u-s-air-force-plans-to-retire-17-b-1b-lancer-bombers-during-2021.html
