How much is a B-1B Lancer Bomber worth? Airplane crashes while trying to land in South Dakota base, crews safely ejected

A B-1B Lancer Bomber, a long-range US bomber airplane crashed at the Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota on Thursday, January 4, 2024. All four crew members, who successfully managed to eject from the bomber were reportedly safe, and no other injuries from the crash were reported.

The bomber had its first flight in 1984. Described as the "icon of the latter decades of the Cold War," the B-1B Lancer is priced at $317 million per unit. Ellsworth's 28th Bomb Wing confirmed that the crash had taken place during a training mission.

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B-1B Lancer crashes at Ellsworth, crew ejects to safety

The Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota made a statement that a B-1B Lancer crashed at the airbase on Thursday. The bomber reportedly crashed when it attempted to land on the installation.

According to the Air and Space magazine, weather reports showed that the accident took place during a dense fog that limited visibility and "below-freezing" temperature conditions.

The Ellsworth Air Force Base's statement read that an Air Force B-1B Lancer crashed at around 5:50 pm while it attempted to land on the installation. The statement added that the bomber was on a training mission with four crew members on board, who all ejected safely.

The statement added that a "board of officers will investigate the accident."

The four people involved are assumed to be members of a standard B-1 crew, which consists of a couple of pilots and weapon system officers. A Notice to Airmen was issued after the accident, which revealed that the base did not close after the crash. First responders to the crash site, revealed that there was a fire and an explosion.

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The B-1B Lancer: A Cold War icon

As mentioned earlier, a B-1B Lancer is described as an "icon of the latter decades of the Cold War," according to Military.com. It was initially designed as a "strategic nuclear bomber" that could evade Soviet radar by flying in low altitudes.

After the Cold War, the bomber began to be used in various conventional tactical support and tactical bombing missions. Military.com called the aircraft the "backbone of America's long-range bomber force." It went on to that the aircraft can carry the largest payload of unguided and guided weapons in the inventory of the Air Force.

"It can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons anywhere in the world." It went on to say.

B-1B's predecessor, the B-1A was initially developed in the '70s but in 1981, it was later modified into the B-1B by the Ronald Raegan administration. The B1-B took its first flight in 1984 and the final jet was delivered in 1988. The jet is priced at $317 million.

Originally 100 B-1B Lancers were built but now that number has dwindled to 60. These flights rest at the Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, where they were first delivered in 1985. Meanwhile, the Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota houses 45 B-1s. The flight that crashed belonged to the 28th Bomb Wing located in the Ellsworth base.

According to the official Boeing website, the B-1B Lancer is nicknamed "The Bone". Six of the flights were involved in Operation Allied Force in 1999 and flew 2% of the strike missions and yet dropped 20% of the ordinance. It dropped 40% of precision weapons during Operation Enduring Freedom.

The website adds:

"The B-1 has been nearly continuously deployed in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001."

B-1B statistics according to the Boeing website (Image via Boeing)

The B-1B Lancer is the fastest UAF bomber with a top speed of Mach 1.2, holds 24 cruise missiles, and can carry 75,000 lbs. It has an all-digital cockpit and a Global Positioning System driven by an Inertial Navigation System. Despite all this, the Air and Space magazine still states that the flight has a "poor mission-capable rate".