Red_Eye
$1:
Yeah um not such a Stealthy price is it?
I think its a waste of money at that price. Its worth an attack sub.
Actually the price of a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier.
The USAF only had 21 and this is the first loss. Actually not bad for an aircraft in service for 20 years...but aircraft do unfortunately have a higher loss rate compared to Aircraft Carriers.
Whether or not it is worth it, is very debatable. Over Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq it was irreplaceable, in the hot AAA environments.
This is the sort of thing that you wake the President about.