I love the B-2. It looks so... well, deadly. I am, however, quite amazed at the price of the thing. I have been thinking about just how in the heck $532 million is getting used. Herewith I submit my first approximation:
Airframe $124,000,000.00
Computers $10,000,000.00
Communications gear $250,000.00
Electronic Warfare gear $150,000.00
Other Avionics $1,500,000.00
development cost per production unit $130,100,000.00
Mark up (profit) of %50 $266,000,000.00
Base price $532,000,000.00
Airframe: I figured that the B-2 is about as big as a 737 airliner. I also figured that choosing the largest airliner that I know of would give some decent fudging. So I called Boeing and asked what the ball-park price for a generic 747-400 just off of the line was. The guy said $116 to $132 million a pop. I used the average of the two prices.
Computers: What could be more powerfull than a Cray X-MP? I heard that the ball park on them was about $5 million. The B-2 is very smart so it gets two.
Communications gear: I looked in the latest DAC catalog and found the Uniden Bearcat 200-Channel Programmable 800 Mhz Rechargable Scanner at $249.00 per. I rounded to $250 and applied a multiplier of 1000.
Electronic Warfare gear: The latest DAC catalog also lists a Maxon RD-XL Super- heterodyne Micro Radar Detector for $299 each. I rounded to $300 and applied a multiplier of 1000.
Other Avionics: I was in the local warehouse discount store (Costco) yesterday and noticed that they had a full bore TV Satellite receiver set up for $1399. this included dish, actuator, receivers and tuners. I rounded to $1500 and applied a multiplier of 1000.
I take the remainder to be actual development costs. This means that only about 25% of the price for each production unit is going for actual iron with the rest going for incentive (profit) and development costs. This seems about right dosen't it?
Chesley Reyburn ...tektronix!ogicse!cvedc!cmr ECAE Software, Prime Computer, Inc. ...sun!cvbnet!cvedc!cmr 14952 NW Greenbrier Parkway ...sequent!cvedc!cmr Beaverton, OR 97006-5733 Phone 503/645-2410
