B-2 Spirit: America’s Best Airplane Since the SR-71

Today marks the 25th day of remembrance of the B-2 Spirit ’s inaugural flight of stairs . Through its quarter - century of service , the original Stealth Bomber has earned its place among the most elect warbirds in the USAF fleet and remains a critical weapon of the US arsenal to this day . It ’s a plane that could go — or stop — WWIII single - handedly .

With the rise of modern radiolocation and anti - aircraft batteries in the 1980s , the US military found itself in a tenuous position , incertain that it could continue to attack mellow - note value foe targets with the abandon that it had love in the years after WWII . As a result , the military began pour money into low observable ( aka stealth ) technology in an attempt to foresee these improved detection systems . Well , technically , development for the B-2 Spirit begin a small bit originally as part of President Carter ’s “ Advanced Technology Bomber ” ( ATB ) program , but the system really pick up amphetamine in the former ’ 80s under President Reagan . The plane made its public debut in 1988 , flew for the first metre the following class , and saw its first combat delegacy during Operation Allied Force over Serbia in 1999 .

The B-2 Spirit , at the time of its development by Northrop Grumman , was lightyears ahead of anything we had in fighting service . It was the first US military aircraft to employ newfangled computer - aided designing and manufacturing technique , the first to incorporate curved surfaces ( which throw off incoming radiolocation shaft of light ) into a downhearted discernible weapons platform , and remains the one of the only aircraft in the armory to commingle retentive range , massive payloads , and stealth into a single political platform . All at the low , low discount price of $ 737 million per aeroplane ( in 1997 dollars ) .

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The B-2 leverages a flying wing design 172 feet wide and 69 feet foresightful . The four , 17,300 lbf GE turbojet engine are internally located within the plane ’s wings which , along with an modern fumes temperature command organisation , help to minimise its caloric signature . This immense power plant is necessary due to the enormous weight of the ordnance that the B-2 carries — up to 50,000 pounds of conventional and atomic weapon , that ’s 20 gobs of explosive — but still provides a top speed of mach 0.95 at 40,000 foot and a mountain chain of 6,000 miles . That ’s roughly the distance from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri , where the B-2s reside , to Pyongyang , NK . With a single mid - air refueling , the B-2 ’s range tops out at more than 10,000 naut mi though when cruising at 40,000 feet , the B-2 take in up to 45 stacks of fuel every 6 60 minutes so airy pit stops are full of life — up to 5 refuelings per 30 - hour mission .

While the fast-flying wing design help to minimize the plane ’s radar cross signature and provides a highly efficient flight envelope , its inherently unstable escape characteristics require a steadier manus than what a human can provide . Therefore , the B-2 uses a fly - by - wire flight of steps control system to automatically take in environmental data point , such as airspeed and onrush angle , via cowcatcher - atmospheric static sensing plates and then adjust the aircraft ’s flight surfaces consequently to maintain ascendency .

The flight control system is so advanced that the pilot can toggle between three flight types : pasquinade , landing place , and “ go - to - war ” simply by flipping a substitution . The computer will take care of the rest , selecting the appropriate avionics and equipment for the activeness . In fact , the B-2 offers such a high layer of flight and navigational mechanisation that the two pilots ( or rather pilot and mission commander ) can tack tariff during the mission with one monitor the aircraft while the other cooks a repast , habituate the onboard latrine , or even catches some closed eye .

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Since the B-2 was developed first and foremost as a Cold War strategic zep capable of penetrating impenetrable radar defense force , its stealth capabilities are top - notch . The plane incorporates forward-looking avionics to help oneself find and avoid upcoming microwave radar battery such as the AN / APQ-181 multi - mode radar , catnap - of - the - land ( ground hugging ) navigational radiolocation , GPS , and a defensive direction system that can notice and assess the capability of upcoming threats and target . What ’s more , the B-2 reportedly can shrink its radiolocation signature tune of just 0.1 m2 — that ’s approximately the size of a coffee cupful — when it go up a target , though how the plane accomplishes that feat stay highly classified . When that happen , the only thing enemy radar batteries detect is a tiny pip as the B-2 opens its bomb bay doors and unloads on its target .

Not amazingly , you do n’t want to be underneath a B-2 when it opens its bomb calorimeter bay doors . The plane ’s interior bomb bays can obligate up to 80 Mk-82 or GBU-38 500 - pound bombs , 36 750 - pound cluster turkey , 16 2000 - dog pound Mk-84 or GBU-31 bombs , or as many as 16 nuclear B61 or B83 nuclear bomb . It is also the only program in the US armory that can deliver our Massive Ordnance Penetrators ( it can carry two ) as well as the AGM-129 ACM sail missile . There are also reports that the USAF is sour on a “ Long Range Standoff Weapon ” that would allow the B-2 to aim installations over the skyline with nuclear ordnance , an unprecedented capacity .

Twenty - one B-2 Spirits have been produce in the last 25 long time , and not one woodworking plane has ever come under foeman fire during the 14,000 sorties covering 75,000 flying minute since . The only aircraft loss occurred in February of 2008 , when the Spirit of Kansas crashed during takeoff . Few , if any , other US aircraft can tout such an telling safety criminal record , especially after so many old age of table service . [ WikiNorthrop Grumman – Air Force Technology – USAF ]

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