The Northrop B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy penetration
strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating
dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber
can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 230 kg-class JDAM
Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 1,100 kg B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2
is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons
in a stealth configuration.
The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 15,000 m, with a range of more
than 11,000 km on internal fuel and over 19,000 km with one midair refueling. It entered service
in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a
nuclear bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat, dropping conventional, non-nuclear
ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It later served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.
The B-2, in the envisaged Cold War scenario, was to perform deep-penetrating nuclear strike
missions, making use of its stealthy capabilities to avoid detection and interception throughout
missions. There are two internal bomb bays in which munitions are stored either on a
rotary launcher or two bomb-racks; the carriage of the weapons loadouts internally results
in less radar visibility than external mounting of munitions. The B-2 is capable of carrying
18,000 kg of ordnance. Nuclear ordnance includes the B61 and B83 nuclear bombs; the AGM-129
ACM cruise missile was also intended for use on the B-2 platform.
Reportedly, the B-2 has a radar cross-section of about 0.1 m². The bomber does not always
fly stealthily; when nearing air defenses pilots "stealth up" the B-2, a manoeuvre whose
details are secret. The aircraft is stealthy, except briefly when the bomb bay opens. The
B-2's clean, low-drag flying wing configuration not only provides exceptional range but is
also beneficial to reducing its radar profile. The flying wing design most closely resembles
a so-called infinite flat plate, the perfect stealth shape, as it would lack angles to
reflect back radar waves.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Crew: 2 (pilot and mission commander
Length: 21.0 m Wingspan: 52.4 m
Height: 5.18 m Wing area: 478 m²
Empty weight: 71,700 kg Loaded weight: 52,200 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 170,600 kg Fuel Capacity: 75,750 kg
Powerplant: 4 × General Electric F118-GE-100 non-afterburning turbofans, 77 kilonewton
each
PERFORMANCE: Maximum speed:
Mach 0.95 or 1,010 km/h at 12,200 m altitude Mach 0.95 at sea level
Cruise speed: Mach 0.85 or 900 km/h at 12,200 m altitude
Range: 11,100 km Service ceiling: 15,200 m
Wing loading: 329 kg/m² Thrust/weight: 0.205
ARMAMENT: 2 internal bays for ordnance and payload with
an official limit of 18,000 kg; maximum estimated limit is 23,000 kg.
80× 227 kg class bombs (Mk-82, GBU-38) mounted on Bomb Rack Assembly
36× 340 kg CBU class bombs on Bomb Rack Assembly 16× 907 kg class bombs (Mk-84, GBU-31) mounted
on Rotary Launcher Assembly 16× B61 or B83 nuclear bombs on Rotary Launcher
Assembly (strategic mission) Standoff weapon: AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon
(JSOW) and AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
Program cost: US$44.75 billion (through 2004) Unit cost: $737 million (1997 approx. flyaway
cost)