B-2 Spirit

The U.S. Air Force's nuclear-capable, flying-wing stealth heavy bomber — the world's only operational stealth bomber, sole carrier of the 30,000-lb GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, and the penetrating-strike backbone of Air Force Global Strike Command.

Overview

The Northrop B-2 Spirit is a subsonic, low-observable strategic bomber fielded by the United States Air Force. Designed to slip past the most advanced integrated air-defense systems, it delivers both conventional and nuclear ordnance against hardened, high-value targets directly from the continental United States. After Cold War ambitions for 132 aircraft were slashed, 21 airframes were built; 19 remain in service, all operated by the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The B-2 is the only aircraft cleared to employ the 30,000-lb GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), and its demonstrated ability to fly 37-hour non-stop combat missions—most notably during Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran’s nuclear complexes—cements its irreplaceable position ahead of the incoming B-21 Raider fleet.

Development

The B-2 began as the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program, launched in the late 1970s to create a penetrating stealth bomber that could survive Soviet air defenses. In 1981 the Northrop-led team (with Boeing as principal partner) won the competition, and the flying-wing design was unveiled at Palmdale on 22 November 1988 Wikipedia. First flight occurred on 17 July 1989, and the first operational aircraft, Spirit of Missouri, was delivered to Whiteman on 17 December 1993. The dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, cut the planned buy from 132 airframes to just 21; production ran 1989–2000 and the fleet achieved full operational capability in December 2003 U.S. Air Force fact sheet. Because the enormous R&D cost—around $44.7 billion in 1997 dollars—was amortized over such a small fleet, each B-2 carries a program-average cost of roughly $2.13 billion, making it the most expensive aircraft ever built Wikipedia.

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