The U.S. Air Force returned a retired B-1B Lancer to operational service at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas on April 22, completing a nearly two-year regeneration effort.
1/ Back from the Boneyard
“A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer [(86-0115)] once parked in the Arizona desert is back in the air after an intensive regeneration and depot maintenance effort led by the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base.” pic.twitter.com/ZHPQLrfNwq
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) May 6, 2026
Serial 86-0115, formerly “Rage,” entered Type 2000 reclaimable storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona in 2021. The 567th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron spent nearly two years at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, with more than 200 airmen and civilians replacing over 500 components in rotating shifts, the 72nd Air Base Wing stated. Pilots from the 10th Flight Test Squadron confirmed airworthiness in bare-metal check flights before departing Tinker on April 22.
At Dyess, Col. Seth Spanier, 7th Bomb Wing commander, presided over a ceremony designating the aircraft “Apocalypse II,” the wing’s new flagship. The name honors the crew of a World War II B-24 Liberator from the 436th Bombardment Squadron, shot down over Burma on December 1, 1942. Six of the original crew’s relatives attended, including Frank Tedone, whose uncle’s remains were identified through DNA analysis.
“I’ve been on this jet for 32 years,” said Jason Justice, a technical analyst with Tinker’s B-1 Systems Program Office who helped retire the aircraft in 2021 and led its recovery. “To see it come back and still support the warfighter is a great feeling.”
The return brings the fleet to 45 B-1Bs, the minimum Congress has mandated. Serial 86-0115 replaced 86-0126, which was undergoing structural repair with Boeing in Palmdale, California. The Air Force stated regeneration was faster and less costly.
Days after the aircraft’s transfer, the Air Force released footage showing a B-1B carrying an AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), a hypersonic missile, on an external pylon for the first time. The FY2027 budget requests $345.7 million to restart ARRW development and fund a new air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) derived from ARRW architecture.
