Don't forget the F-35 Joint strike fighter, which should be more like $60mil.

But even at $100mil+, at least it's not the B-2, which is in the $1 billion range.

And that's incremental cost. Since they're not building nearly as many B-2s as originally expected the unit cost will end up being something like $2.5 billion/plane.

And Secretary of Defense Gates has called for the ending production of the F-22 after next year's order. The AF is insisting it needs twice as many planes as that would result in them having. So that's a battle that'll be fought by whatever congresscritters are employed by the factories that make the planes.

The B-2 ended up being so expensive because the program was cut off at the knees with the end of the Cold War. The plan was for a couple hundred, which would have spread the development costs out more and brought the cost per plane down significantly.

I think the next large area of production development is/should be in the area of unmanned drones.

And considering that they've only been used in combat 3 times, probably a smart decision.

I seem to recall hearing at one point that the AirForce said that they didn't need any more than the 18 or so that they had, but that pressure to keep the manufacturing jobs lead to building that last couple that were slated. Don't know how true that story was.

Meanwhile, I just learned that a B-2 crashed last month taking off from Guam. First one lost.

Wouldn't surprise me since Congress keeps building ships that the Navy doesn't particularly want.

Seriously, you guys should book a stay at Chez Blueerica for a Thursday. On Thursdays, the AFB typically gets dignitaries, and people looking to buy our jets, and we're all treated to (what I refer to as) "Crazy Fly Day." It's good fun.

Now: a reason to visit (because seeing you wasn't reason enough).

How far are you from Logan, blueerica?

I need to ride Sonic Boom again.

Actually, not too far from Logan, though I haven't been there. Sonic Boom? Logan? Huh? I must look this stuff up. We like to go to Lagoon, which is a bit south of us, I think in Farmington or some-such-town.

I talked with J last night, and from what he knows it's going to be the F-22 and the F-35 for sure - but lawd only knows what they're developing to replace those.

Lagoon kicks ass, too - I need to go there to ride Wicked.

Sonic Boom is a 300 ft tower ride from madman Stan Checketts, and is one of the attractions at his own tiny park at S&S Power. It's kind of like being dropped in one of those bank deposit tubes.