The Stealth bomber, also known as the B-2, was a very expensive project to finish. The main reason the stealth bomber was created was, because they wanted to replace the old B-52. They also wanted a plane that could carry nuclear weapons to a destination in a short period of time. Again this is before the USSR collapsed so there was a nuclear threat from the Soviet Union (1970s). It had to be capable of doing this evading enemy radar.

At that time it was near to impossible for this to be done, but it was possible, It would cost billions and billions of dollars to create the prototype. Northrop Grumman and his team of scientist won the plane contract. The US tried their best to keep this project a secret from the media, and any other country.

After ten years, they created a plane which was a 172 ft flying wing. Literally, it looked like a wing! When spotted on radar it looked like a little dot, small as an insect to be exact. Even though it didn’t possess a stabilizer, it still flew like a fighter jet.

The flying wing has much more capabilities than a normal plane. First if the plane is a whole wing making it reduce the drag because there is no tail, fuselage. This efficiency makes this huge aircraft to be very speedy for its size. It is called a high subsonic air craft because its max speed is just a little bit slower than supersonic speed (Mach 1; the speed of sound). The max speed of the plane is around 1,000 ft/sec or 305 m/s.

The Stealth bomber consists of 4 General Electric F-118-GE-100 Jet engines. Each engines makes about 17 300 pounds of thrust a second.

Just like any other plane, the pilot controls the B-2 by moving the wings. But unlike most planes, the steering system is controlled by a computer. The pilot tells what the computer what to do, and the computer follows the command regardless. This plane also consists of many normal airplane parts such as the elevons, rudders, ailerons (for the B-2 they have a special computer program.)

Even though the B-2 is a humongous aircraft, it only needs two people to pilot it, a pilot and a mission commander.

Before, the main idea of the stealth bomber was that it didn’t need any air support, because of its stealth capabilities. But due to the fact that it is too expensive to fly solo, it is usually accompanied by few fighter jets.

The main reason the B-2 was created was for stealth, and the definition of stealth is: the ability to go unnoticed by anyone, hence the name Stealth Bomber. One way that the B-2 helps stay unnoticed is, it blends in with the sky at night by its design. The B-2 emits as little amount of exhaust as possible making its trail nearly invisible. The nosiest component in any plane is its engine system. But unlike the other fighter jets, its engines are found deep in the heart of the planes making the sounds muffled and almost inaudible. Also, due to its aerodynamic structure, it doesn’t need that much power to go through the air especially through enemy airspace.

There are many defenses against radar detection that the Stealth bomber possesses. One of them is its radar absorbing surface. The electromagnet energy released from radar stations are absorbed by the B-2.  Also composite materials used in B-2 bombers are designed to absorb the radio magnetic energy.

Originally The B-2 was designed to carry nuclear weapons, but after the fall of the USSR in 1991, the weapon capabilities changed somewhat. It now has the possibility to drop different types of bombs. Usually, the bombs are called “dumb” bombs but when they are in mid air they have GPS receivers which guide them to their target. It can carry up to 40 000 pounds of munitions.