Gates to Air Force: Want a New Bomber? Do It on the Cheap

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/09/gates-to-air-force-want-a-new-bomber-do-it-on-the-cheap/

"What we must not do is repeat what happened with our last manned
bomber," he said. "By the time the research, development, and
requirements processes ran their course, the aircraft, despite its
great capability, turned out to be so expensive – $2 billion each in
the case of the B-2 – that less than one-sixth of the planned fleet of
132 was ever built. Looking ahead, it makes little sense to pursue a
future bomber – a prospective B-3, if you will – in a way that repeats
this history."