B-2 BOMBER

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NAME SUMIT SAINI

ROLL NO. - RE6802A08REGD. NO. 10801283

PROGRAMME B.TECH(ECE)

PROGRAMME CODE 149

COURSE GENERAL PRESENTATION

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y Role Stealth bomber

y National origin United States

y Manuf acturer Northrop CorporationNorthrop Grumman

y First flight 7 July 1989

y Introduction A pril 1997

y Status Activ e ser vice:

20 aircraft

y Primary user U.S.A A ir Force

y

Numberbuilt 21y Unit cost $737million

$2.1 billion

y Role Stealth bomber

y National origin United States

y Manuf acturer Northrop CorporationNorthrop Grumman

y First flight 17 July 1989

y Introduction A pril 1997

y Status Activ e ser vice:

20 aircraft

y Primary user U.S.A A ir Force

y

Numberbuilt 21y Unit cost $737million

$2.1 billion

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y Crew: 2

y Length: 69 ft (21.0 m)

y W ingspan: 172 ft (52.4 m)

y Height: 17 ft (5.18 m)y W ing area: 5,140 ft² (478 m²)

y Empt y weight: 158,000 lb (71.7 t)

y

Loaded weight: 336,500 lb (152.6 t)y Max takeoff weight: 376,000 lb (170.6 t)

y Power plant: 4× General Electric F118-GE-100turbofans, 17,300 lbf (77 kN) each

y Crew: 2

y Length: 69 ft (21.0 m)

y W ingspan: 172 ft (52.4 m)

y Height: 17 ft (5.18 m)y W ing area: 5,140 ft² (478 m²)

y Empt y weight: 158,000 lb (71.7 t)

y

Loaded weight: 336,500 lb (152.6 t)y Max takeoff weight: 376,000 lb (170.6 t)

y Power plant: 4× General Electric F118-GE-100turbofans, 17,300 lbf (77 kN) each

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Development A B-2 Spirit dropping 500 lb (230 kg) class Mark 82 bombs in a 1994 liv ef ire exercise near Point Mugu, California.

The B-2 originated from the A d v anced Technolog y Bomber ( A TB) blackproject. The bomber program began in 1979. The Department of Defense f irst disclosed they were working to de v elop a stealthy bomberon 22 A ugust 1980.The A TB competitionwas reduced to theNorthrop/Boeing and Lockheed/Rockwell teams with each receiving astudy contract for further work.

TheNorthrop/Boeing team's A TB designwas selected o v er theLockheed/Rockwell design on 20 October 1981. The black project wasfunded under the code name " A urora". The Northrop designwouldreceiv e the designation B-2 and name "Spirit". The bomber's design

was changed in the mid-1980s when its missionprof ile was changedfrom high-altitude to low-altitude, terrain following. The redesign delayed the B-2's f irst flight by two years and added about $1 billion to

the program's cost. A n estimated US$23 billionwas secretly spent forresearch and de v elopment on the B-2 in the 1980s. A t the program'speak, 13,000 people were employed at a dedicated plant in Pico R iv era,Cal. for the plane's engineering and some manufacturing.

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Program costsy The program was the subject of public contro v ersy for its costs to

A merican taxpayers. In 1996 the General Accounting Off ice disclosed

that the B-2 bomber "will be, by far, the most costly bombers to operateon a per aircraft basis" costingo v er three times as much as the B-1B(US$9.6 million annually) and o v er four times as much as the B-52H($US6.8 million annually).

y In September 1997, each hour of B-2 f light necessitated 119 hours of maintenance in turn. Comparable maintenance needs for the B-52 andthe B-1B are 53 and 60 hours respectiv ely for each hour of f light.

y A key reason for this cost are the air-conditioned hangars large enoughfor the bomber's 172 foot wingspan, which are needed to maintain theaircraft's stealthy properties, especially its "low-obser v able" stealthy skins. These maintenance requirements raise serious questions aboutthe ability to deploy the B-2 o v erseas.

y The cost of the B-2 program in 1994 dollars was reported at US$737

million production costs for the 21 bomber fleet. Howe v er, the totalcost of the program with de v elopment, spare parts, and facilitiesa v eraged o v erUS$2.1 billion per plane as of 1997 according to the B-2program off ice.

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OppositionOppositiony Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

General John Shalikash vili,and former Chief

of Staff of the United States A ir Force, GeneralMike Ryan, were strongly opposed to thepurchase of an y additional B-2s, arguing thatto do so would require unacceptable cuts in existing conv entional and nuclear-capableaircraft to pay for the new planes.

y While ser ving in Congress and as Chairman of

the House A rmed Ser vices Committee during the 1980s and 1990s, California Congressman Ron Dellums strongly opposed the program'soriginand expansion. In 1997, Dellums, citing f iv e independent studies consistent with hisposition, offered an amendment to that year'sdefense authorization bill to cap productionof the bombers with the existing 21 aircraft. Theamendment was narrowly defeated.Nonetheless, Congress ne v er appro v edfunding for additional B-2 bombers.

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DESIGNy A close-up of a B-2

y A s with the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer, the B-2 pro vides the v ersatility

inherent in manned bombers. Like other bombers, its assigned targets can becanceled or changed while in flight, the particular weapon assigned to a targetcan be changed, and the timing of attack, or the route to the target can bechanged while in flight. In addition, its low-obser v able, or "stealth",characteristics giv e it the ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticatedanti-aircraft defenses to attack its most hea vily defended targets.

y The blending of low-obser v able technologies with high aerody namic eff icienc y

and large payload giv es the B-2 signif icant ad v antages o v er pre vious bombers.Its range is approximately 6,000 nautical miles (11,100 km) without refueling.

A lso, its low-obser v ation ability pro vides the B-2 greater freedom of action athigh altitudes, thus increasing its range and pro viding a better f ield of view forthe aircraft's sensors. It combines GPS A ided Targeting System (G A TS) withGPS-aided bombs such as Joint Direct A ttack Munitions (JD A M). This uses itspassiv e electronically scanned array A PQ-181 radar to correct GPS errors of targets and gain much better than laser-guided weapon accurac y when "dumb"

gra vity bombs are equipped with a GPS-aided "smart" guidance tail kit. It can bomb 16 targets in a single pass when equipped with 1,000 or 2,000-poundbombs, or as man y as 80 when carry ing 500-lb bombs.

y The B-2's stealth comes from a combination of reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures, making it diff icult for opposition defenses todetect, track and engage the aircraft. Man y specif ic aspects of the low-obser v ability process remain classif ied.

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y Mock-up of a B-2 Spirit on display at the NationalMuseum of the United States A ir Force

y Because of its cost, rarity, and combat v alue, no

production B-2 has been pla

ced on permanent display.Howe v er, B-2s ha v e made periodic appearances on

ground display at v arious air shows.

y In 2004, one of the test articles (s/n A T-1000) built without engines or instruments for static testing wasplaced on display at the National Museum of the UnitedStates A ir Force near Dayton, Ohio. The test article hadbeen used for structural testing, and after passing allplanned tests, pressure was applied until the right wing broke off at 161% of specif ication. The Museum'srestoration team spent o v er a year reassembling thefractured airframe.

y From 1989 to 2004, the South Dakota A ir and SpaceMuseum located on the grounds of Ellsworth A ir ForceBase displayed the 10-ton (9.1 tonne) "Honda Stealth", a60% scale mock-up of a stealth bomber, which had been built by North A merican Honda in 1988 for a nationalautomobile campaign. A lthough not an actual replica of a B-2, the mock-up was close enough to create a stir that

Honda had cracked national security, as the B-2 project was still off icially classif ied in 1988. Honda donated themodel to the Museum in 1989, on the condition that themodel be destroyed if it were e v er replaced with adifferent aircraft. In 2005, when the museum receiv ed aB-1 Lancer for display (Ellsworth being a B-1 base), theHonda Stealth was cut up.

y Mock-up of a B-2 Spirit on display at the NationalMuseum of the United States A ir Force

y Because of its cost, rarity, and combat v alue, no

production B-2 has been pla

ced on permanent display.Howe v er, B-2s ha v e made periodic appearances on

ground display at v arious air shows.

y In 2004, one of the test articles (s/n A T-1000) built without engines or instruments for static testing wasplaced on display at the National Museum of the UnitedStates A ir Force near Dayton, Ohio. The test article hadbeen used for structural testing, and after passing allplanned tests, pressure was applied until the right wing broke off at 161% of specif ication. The Museum'srestoration team spent o v er a year reassembling thefractured airframe.

y From 1989 to 2004, the South Dakota A ir and SpaceMuseum located on the grounds of Ellsworth A ir ForceBase displayed the 10-ton (9.1 tonne) "Honda Stealth", a60% scale mock-up of a stealth bomber, which had been built by North A merican Honda in 1988 for a nationalautomobile campaign. A lthough not an actual replica of a B-2, the mock-up was close enough to create a stir that

Honda had cracked national security, as the B-2 project was still off icially classif ied in 1988. Honda donated themodel to the Museum in 1989, on the condition that themodel be destroyed if it were e v er replaced with adifferent aircraft. In 2005, when the museum receiv ed aB-1 Lancer for display (Ellsworth being a B-1 base), theHonda Stealth was cut up.

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8/8/2019 B-2 BOMBER


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B-2 BOMBER