10 Incredible Facts About the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

the Northrop b-2 spirit is one of the most iconic military aircraft ever made its shape is instantly recognizable even to those with little to no military knowledge but it's famous shape isn't for looks alone despite its popularity the b-2 spirit stealth bomber has earned its place in history by being virtually undetectable to enemy surveillance for this reason it has been instrumental in a variety of missions with the ability to spy on enemy territory or level targets with its heavy payload of bumps there's also a fair amount of controversy surrounding the b2 from its steep price tag to the United States need for such planes governments and taxpayers remain somewhat divided when it comes to the beaches place in the Air Force's fleet as an aircraft that was designed in the 70s yet remains relatively inexperienced in the field the b2 has a unique history in an uncertain future here attending credible facts you may not have known about the Northrop b-2 spirit bomber number 10 it was developed in secrecy the mid-1970s brought the need to replace the aging Boeing b-52 Stratofortress constantly improving anti-aircraft technology was putting pressure on military developers to come up with new ways for aircraft to avoid detection planes like a Lockheed sr-71 blackbird you can read more about it here utilized searching components of stealth technology the Blackbird in particular used a combination of speed high altitude and composite materials that absorb radar by 1979 stealth technology had advanced to the point that development could begin and on a true stealth bomber originally a grey project meaning that although it was kept secret from the public some information on it was available to the government The Beeches technologies were kept under wraps so much so that a northrop employee was arrested in 1984 when he attempted to leaked info on the aircraft's development to the Soviet Union after almost a decade in development the b2 was first revealed to the public in 1988 even then the viewing was tightly restricted and spectators were not allowed to see the rear of the plane number 9 it's virtually invisible to radar one of the most important factors contributing to the b-2 stealth capability the shape of its body the flying wing design introduced with the YB 49 gives the spirit a very minimal radar profile in its aerodynamics give it a great range of around six thousand nine hundred miles the plane itself is made largely of radar absorbent materials which make it virtually impossible to detect the Vita's engines are buried within its wings minimizing their exhaust signature and concealing the engines fans the bottom of the aircraft has covered an anti-reflective paint which blends into the sky at high altitudes making it invisible to both radar and the naked eye originally the white contrail left by the jet engines was eliminated by an added chemical but later developments did away with this feature in favor of a sensor which alerts the pilot went to change altitude to avoid leaving the trail number eight its origins date back to the 1940s with the YB 49 flying wing although the northrop YB 49 never entered production it helped lay the groundwork for the design of the b-2 spirit the YB 49 was a jet-powered variant based off of Northrop's piston powered xB 35 and why B 35 bombers only - why me 49 s were ever made in the project was shelved in favor of the more conventional Corvair B 36 the flying wing design was revolutionary in that it eliminated the need for a tail and fuselage opting instead to carry its payload into very large wings the design proved to be more aerodynamic than the traditional plane but because of expensive development costs and a need for extensive testing the project was put on the back burner until Northrop resurrected it with the b2 in the 1980s number seven each plane cost over two billion dollars the original plan was to build 132 v2 spirits but after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s the primary need for the Bombers was greatly reduced to the point that President George HW Bush announced if production would be limited to 20 aircraft in 1992 three years later Northrop made a proposal to build an additional 20 aircraft at a cost of 566 million dollars each this raised a lot of controversy over Americans tax dollars as it was exposed that the operation costs of these planes were considerably higher than those of other bombers and all the b2 program saw it price tag of two point one three billion dollars for every b-2 spirit made it was estimated in 2010 that each of these planes cost one hundred thirty five thousand dollars per flight hour to operate which is double the cost of the b-52 and b1 as of right now no new plans have been released to directly replace the b2 focus remains on upgrades and modifications to the existing aircraft number six it can carry 40,000 pounds of munitions this number isn't all that impressive in fact the much larger b-52 bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds of munitions what makes the b2 impressive as the accuracy with which it can deploys bombs in the fact that it can access guarded territory without being detected the US military redefined the beetus role after the Soviet Union dissolved whereas before it was intended to primarily carry nuclear bombs it was converted into a multi-role bomber capable of carrying conventional bombs as well the b2 has two rotary launchers capable of releasing dumb bumps which simply fall on the target as well as precision guided bombs the bomber is equipped with GPS targeting which allows it to attack its target swiftly and with precision number five it was one of the first planes designed with computers since the b2 was so complex and required such attention to detail to ensure its stealth characteristics the use of early computer technologies was instrumental in the aircraft's design and manufacturing process while the planes shape had many advantages one particular disadvantage was in the stability department without a tail a fuselage the b2 lacked the backbone to keep it stable during rough weather which limited its in-flight capabilities the lack of adequate design technology is one reason why it took so long for the flying wing design to be properly utilized by the US Air Force number four the u.s. bomber fleet is not impressive there's a lot of controversy surrounding the United States military's fleet of bombers most of which are getting shockingly long in the tooth the current fleet contains 160 heavy bombers including six b-52 Stratofortress last 1962-63 b1 Lancers last made in 1988 in 20 b2 spirits last made in 1993 that's an average age of 33 years per plain yikes to make matters worse the Air Force plans to keep on using their b1 s and b-52s until 2040 in the b2 s until 2060 there is already worry that these aircraft are quickly becoming or have long been technologically obsolete with regard to other countries military weapons their vulnerability to attack only increases with their age and the u.s. appears to have no replacements on the horizon number three it was first used in combat in 1999 although it was never used in the function it was designed for dropping nuclear bombs during the Cold War the b2 entered action for the first time in 1999 dropping conventional munitions in the Kosovo war it was responsible for 33% of the targets destroyed in its GPS targeting system proved highly effective compared to the carpet bombing techniques used previously by other bombers b2 s have since dropped bombs during missions in Afghanistan Iraq and Libya number two the plane is highly automated while maintenance and operating costs have proven to be astronomically high for the planes they are efficient when it comes to the crew members needed to fly them the b2 is highly automated and requires only two crew members to operate it in flight the b-1b requires four and the b-52 requires five the beach's crew includes a pilot left seat and a mission commander right seat in his place for a third crew member should the need arise extensive research was done on pilot fatigue and sleep cycles for the beador's operation and it's one of very few two-seat aircraft that allows one member to sleep prepare meals will use the washroom while the other flies that plane [Music] number one plans for follow-up since the end of the Cold War little emphasis has been placed on expanding or revitalizing the US Air Force's fleet of bombers in fact one could argue the military's bomber fleets has regressed as only 20 out of an original we plant 132 beaches were actually built and it's now relying heavily on a fleet of aging bombers from the late 80s and early 90s plans are reportedly in the works to develop what is being referred to us a new long-range strike bomber details are scarce on the project but what's known is that we shouldn't expect to see an operational product in the air before 2025 northrop grumman recently teased whomp looks to be a new version of the b2 in a commercial but we're not ready to jump to conclusions on the future of the plane just yet [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: US Military News

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Id: YI-TaGsXYy4

Length: 11min 5sec (665 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 09 2017