Photos circulating online appeared to show a fire not far from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.
A long-range US B-1B Lancer bomber has crashed outside Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, military officials said, noting the accident took place as the aircraft wrapped up a training mission.
The Ellsworth air base confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday night, saying the bomber went down around 6pm local time while attempting to land at the installation.
“At the time of the accident, it was on a training mission. There were four aircrew on board. All four ejected safely,” the statement said, adding that an investigation had been launched.
Unconfirmed images making the rounds on social media were alleged to show a fire outside the military base, though officials offered few details about the aftermath of the crash.
Images from Cameras used by the South Dakota Department of Transportation showing the Fire currently ongoing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City following the reported Crash of a B-1B “Lancer” Heavy Bomber. https://t.co/3znNebjBg0
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 5, 2024
One of three main strategic bombers in the US arsenal, the B-1B Lancer was once among Washington’s top nuclear-capable warplanes, able to carry the largest load of munitions and reach the fastest speeds. However, the B-1B has since been stripped of its nuclear status, as was agreed under the Cold War-era START Treaty with the Soviet Union, with the planes finally undergoing physical conversions in 2011.
“The exterior attachment points, or the hard points, on the aircraft, were modified to prevent nuclear pylons from ever being attached to the jet,” Master Sgt. Brian Hudson, a B-1 avionics manager at Air Force Global Strike Command, explained in an interview with Military.com.
Despite losing its nuclear mission, however, the Lancer remains a primary heavy bomber alongside the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit, having entered service in 1986. The aircraft are stationed at Ellsworth AFB and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, and several have been deployed for ‘deterrence’ missions in Guam in recent years.
In late 2023, two Lancers were intercepted while approaching Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet, according to Moscow’s defense ministry. After they were spotted, the two US planes changed course and headed away from the border without incident.
And the dumb Yanks keep goading Russia….self delusion is string is this lot….
The B1B Lancer is close to 50 years old. The B-52’s are close to 70 years old.
Due to a war scenario consuming material and men thru attrition, the U.S. Air Force would rather lose old equipment as opposed to billion dollar multi-role aircraft.
Same thing with Naval Aviation.
The U.S. Army’s aircraft fleet outnumber the amount of airframes that the USAF has, and the choppers are also old!
So, the Military Industrial Complex will do quite well in the next war, barring the availability of microchips and shielded processors, but me thinks that the underground bases have been manufacturing a supply of those and other critical infrastructure hardware for quite sometime.
There are underground highways in the U.S. that are out of sight, and very, very deep. Those who drive these are given a security classification of ‘Secret’ and are forced to sign non-disclosure agreement that threatens the death penalty (however applied ie assassination, lethal injection, staged accident, etc.)
Former CIA Head Bill Colby knew all about the latter, falling victim to it himself by the PTB Zionist Deep State!