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A comment on The Air Force is having to reverse engineer parts of its own stealth bomber. Parent comment

Re:The Air Force is having to reverse engineer parts of its ... by Voloskaya on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @04:05PM (#26334527)
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.

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Re:The Air Force is having to reverse engineer parts of its ... by whalesalad on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @04:13PM (#26334631)
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.

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