It is by no mean ancient.

The introduction of the B-2 in service was ~24 years ago, this is one of the most recent jet in the US air force. By military standard it's definitely young.

There are only 2 planes in service in the US more recent than that, the F-22 and F-35 (not counting transport aircrafts).

Those planes are designed for lifespans of 50-100 years.

My dad was at the Skunk Works for 20 years. He then went on to work at Northrop for a good chunk of time as well.

The B-2 was started in the 70s and the maiden flight occurred while I was still baking in the womb.

I realize aircraft can live a long time and can be retrofitted and upgraded with modern technology - but all things considered it is old.

Not saying ancient is bad, either, but as far as organizations go, org knowledge, handoffs of info and books and writing etc... I am not surprised to see the need for reverse engineering.

I had to check, it's not as ancient as some other bombers with B-2 first flight occurring in 1989. I met a pilot who flew on the same B-52 as his father, and his grandfather had flown some of the first B-52s. This was in the 00s, about 15-18 years ago.

It's impossible to overstate how long these things have been in service. The oldest B-52 airframes still in active service were built longer ago than the first flight of the Wright brothers was when they were built.

And likely to be in service for another 30 years. A 100 year airframe

I worked at Boeing Wichita (which is no more), and an engineer told me that the B-52 was getting heavier over time because the old wires weren't removed for avionics upgrades. Of course, they were always trying to put one over on me as a newbie (I worked on avionics S/W in Ada for the tankers).

He also said a big problem was the expense of doing a modern engine upgrade. Anyone know if they ever re-engined it? Was he joking again?

Having one of these fly over my apartment on Rock Rd. was a dish rattler--I used to see B-2s every once in a while too (fairly loud too, IIRC).

20 years later, looks like they are taking RFPs for re-engining:

[PDF] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11413

I guess he was right about the engines.

It first flew 31 years ago. If that is ancient what is the F-16 that first flew 49 years ago?