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B-2 Stealth Bomber

B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

B-2 Stealth Bomber (Order Today!)

Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

The Stealth Bomber or Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit built to deploy nuclear and conventional weapons without being detected making use of stealth technology. The Stealth Bomber carries an impressive payload commanded by a crew of two. Its payload can consist of up to 80 500 lb JDAM GPS guided bombs. The B-2 can carry 16 B83 nuclear bombs that weigh 2,400 lbs each.

Back during the days of the Carter administration development began under the ATB project or (Advanced Technology Bomber). The performance of the B-2 was used as a reason to cancel the B-1 Lancer. Later under the Reagan administration delays restarted the B-1 program.

The B-2 was designed to penetrate Soviet airspace by stealth to attack high value targets. Once the perception of the cold war eased the need for the new bomber was reduced. The cost of the new bombers with operational costs was controversial with the Joint Chiefs and the U.S. Congress. Congress chopped the B-2 budget of 132 Stealth Bombers to just 21 in the late 80s and early 90s. Today we have 20 B-2 Stealth Bombers still in service by the United States Air Force. One incident occurred in 2008 when a B-2 crashed on takeoff in which the crew survived but the bomber was totally destroyed.

B-2 Designed As A Nuclear Bomber

The B-2 was designed to deliver nuclear bombs. The Stealth Bomber was called into service to drop conventional bombs on Serbia in 1999. Then later the B-2 was used in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the latest service was in 2011 to deal with the Libyan uprising.

The B-2 Stealth Bomber came about in the mid 70s in a search to replace the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-70 and B-1A were canceled because they were vulnerable to the SAMs (surface-to-air missiles). The B-1 was very fast so they came up with idea it could be flown close to ground and avoid the SAMs. But the idea was countered with modern look-down/shoot-down interceptors.

More work in the area of technology progressed so the idea was to find ways to avoid missiles all together. So the new buzz word was introduced, “Stealth” or stealth technology was build an aircraft that would invisible to the enemy tracking systems. The thought was to make the stealth aircraft absorb or deflect the tracking radar signals just enough to fly in and fly out without being detected by the enemy. Since they can’t make the aircraft invisible they must fly at night because they still can’t evade the human observers.

The world’s first introduction to the first B-2 was in November of 1988 in Palmdale, California. Still Top Secret guests were not allowed to see the rear of the aircraft. So the viewing was heavily guarded. But there were no bans on flying over airfield where the presentation was set up. So Aviation Week flew over and took all the pictures of the secret suppressed engine exhausts they wanted. The first B-2 public flight was in July or 1989 in Palmdale.

The B-2 Stealth Bomber still has many Top Secret characteristics surrounding its stealth abilities. The Stealth Bomber can penetrate the most sophisticated defenses to attack well guarded targets. Some of the reasons it is so hard to track are because of its reduced acoustic and radar signatures many of which are classified. The composite materials used in its flying wing design and special coatings create the characteristics of its stealth capabilities.

The advantages of the B-2 Stealth Bomber are significant as compared to previous bombers. Stealth technologies, aerodynamic efficiency and the ability to carry large payloads up to 6,000 nautical miles at high altitudes all serve to increase its abilities. Aerial refueling greatly extends the range of the B-2 past 6,000 miles which can support intercontinental missions.

The B-2 christened the Spirit of Missouri was the first operational aircraft delivered in December of 1993. The B-2 Stealth Bomber reached IOC (operational capability) in January of 1997.