Aircraft: The Northrop Grumman ATB
B2 Spirit
Anyone who knows a little bit about history may not be surprised to hear that the most expensive aircraft was a product of the United States Department of Defense. It may also be no surprise to learn that the aircraft was designed to overtake Russian military.
The aircraft is a Northrop Grumman ATB or Advanced Technology Bomber and was called the B-2 Spirit. During the 1980s when the States and Russia were in deep war with each other the States were looking to find a way past Russia’s anti-aircraft devices. This bomber was meant to do just the trick.
However, the project had a few failings. It first had to be redesigned from a high-altitude machine to a low-altitude machine. This not only lengthened the project by two years but it also added $1 billion to the overall project. Figures for the value of the B-2 Spirit vary between $737 million and $2.2 billion but the most commonly quoted cost of the world’s most expensive aircraft is $1.3 billion. You’ll have to find one first though. Because of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and because of the high cost, there were only a total of 21 of these bombers ever made!
Hypothetical Scenario– If Maldives was to buy a B2 Spirit, they would be left with $400 million. I guess enough for the fuel required for a couple of round trips to US on the B2 Spirit!!!!! (Maldives GDP (PPP) for 2010 was $1.7 billion).
(Source: www. http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com)
