06/23/2025
The cost to manufacture a single B-2 bomber is $2.13 billion.
When most people hear about expensive military planes, their immediate thought goes to the F-35 Lightning II. The price tag for the entire F-35 program is what made it so controversial, after all, coming in at $1.7 trillion over the span of 60 years. That's the cost of the program as a whole, however. Each individual F-35 comes in around $110 million, which is (technically and relatively speaking) reasonably priced for something as advanced as the Lightning II. While still pricey, it's nowhere near the cost of a single B-2 Spirit stealth bomber because the B in B-2 might as well stand for "billion."
The cost to manufacture a single B-2 bomber is $2.13 billion. That's billion with a "B," making it the single most expensive aircraft ever built. Of course, you don't spend over $2 billion and not create one of America's best stealth bombers. The B-2 Spirit was developed near the end of the Cold War, with its development beginning in 1987. It finally became operational in 1997, six years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Not being operational for any missions during the exact campaign it was designed for received hefty criticism from members of Congress, who were already upset about the bomber's price tag.
Rebecca Grant, a B-2 and aerospace expert who has flown in the bomber, told CNN, "It is really one of a kind, completely unlike any other plane ever designed." But does that warrant the high price to produce this aircraft? Exactly what makes it so expensive?
