Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

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    Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

    “B-2” and “Stealth bomber” redirect here. For otheruses, see B2 (disambiguation) and Stealth aircraft.

    The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit,also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavypenetration strategic bomber, featuring low observablestealth  technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a  flying wing design with a crewof two.[1][4] The bomber can deploy both  conventionaland thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb (230

    kg)-class (Mk 82)   JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb (1,100 kg)  B83 nu-clear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraftthat can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in astealth configuration.

    Development originally started under the “AdvancedTechnology Bomber”(ATB) project during the Carter ad-ministration, and its expected performance was one ofhis reasons for the cancellation of the supersonic B-1Abomber. ATB continued during the Reagan administra-tion, but worries about delays in its introduction led tothe reinstatement of the B-1 program as well. Program

    costs rose throughout development. Designed and man-ufactured by  Northrop, later   Northrop Grumman, thecost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million (in 1997dollars).[3] Total procurement costs averaged $929 mil-lion per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment,retrofitting, and software support.[3] The total programcost including development, engineering and testing, av-eraged $2.1 billion per aircraft in 1997.[3]

    Because of its considerable capital and  operating costs,the project was controversial in the U.S. Congress andamong the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The winding-down of theCold War in the latter portion of the 1980s dramatically

    reduced the need for the aircraft, which was designedwith the intention of penetrating Soviet airspace and at-tacking high-value targets. During the late 1980s and1990s, Congress slashed plans to purchase 132 bombersto 21. In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in  a crash shortly af-ter takeoff, though the crew ejected safely.[5] Atotalof20B-2s remain in service with the United States Air Force,which plans to operate the B-2 until 2058.[6]

    The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) on internal fuel andover 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) with

    one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as thesecond aircraft designed to have advanced stealth tech-

    nology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack air-craft. Though originally designed primarily as a nuclearbomber, the B-2 was first used in combat dropping con-ventional ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999 and sawfurther service in Iraq and Afghanistan.[7]

    1 Development

    1.1 Origins

    By the mid-1970s, it was becoming clear that there wasa different way to avoid missiles  and  interceptors, knowntoday as "stealth". The concept was to build an aircraftwith an airframe that deflected or absorbed radar signalsso that little was reflected back to the radar unit. An air-craft having stealth characteristics would be able to fly

    nearly undetected and could be attacked only by weaponsand systems not relying on radar. Although such possibil-ities existed, such as human observation, their relativelyshort detection range allowed most aircraft to fly unde-tected by defenses, especially at night.[8]

    In 1974, DARPA requested information from U.S. avia-tion firms about the largest radar cross-section of an air-craft that would remain effectively invisible to radars. [9]

    Initially, Northrop and McDonnell Douglas were selectedfor further development.   Lockheed had experience inthis field due to developing the Lockheed A-12 and SR-71, which included a number of stealthy features, notably

    its canted vertical stabilizers, the use of composite ma-terials in key locations, and the overall surface finish inradar-absorbing paint. A key improvement was the in-troduction of computer models used to predict the radarreflections from flat surfaces where collected data drovethe design of a “faceted” aircraft. Development of thefirst such designs started in 1975 with “the hopeless dia-mond”, a model Lockheed built to test the concept.[10]

    Plans were well advanced by the summer of 1975, whenDARPA started the Experimental Survivability Testbed(XST) project. Northrop and Lockheed were awardedcontracts in the first round of testing. Lockheed received

    the sole award for the second test round in April 1976leading to the Have Blue program and eventually the F-117 stealth attack aircraft.[11]

    1

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Bluehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar-absorbent_materialhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbirdhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbirdhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Corporationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Corporationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_cross-sectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001-present)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_ordnancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_refuelinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B-2_accidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B-2_accidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Chiefs_of_Staffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congresshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaprojecthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_costhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_costhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grummanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Corporationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Ronald_Reaganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Ronald_Reaganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_B-1_Lancer#B-1A_programhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_B-1_Lancer#B-1A_programhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Jimmy_Carterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Jimmy_Carterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standoff_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-to-surface_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B83_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B83_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_Systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_82_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weaponhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_weaponhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_winghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aircraft_warfarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aircraft_warfarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bomberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penetrator_(aircraft)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_bomberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B2_(disambiguation)

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    2   1 DEVELOPMENT 

    1.2 ATB program

    By 1976, these programs progressed to where a long-range strategic stealth bomber appeared viable. PresidentCarter was aware of these developments during 1977, andit appears to have been one of the major reasons the B-

    1 was canceled.[12] Further studies were ordered in early1978, by which point the Have Blue platform had flownand proven the concepts. During the  1980 presidentialelection campaign in 1979,  Ronald Reagan   repeatedlystated that Carter was weak on defense, and used the B-1as a prime example. In return, on 22 August 1980, theCarter administration publicly disclosed that the  UnitedStates Department of Defense (DoD) was working to de-velop stealth aircraft, including a bomber.[13]

    The B-2’s first public display in 1988 

    The Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program be-gan in 1979.[14] Full development of the black project fol-lowed, and was funded under the code name "Aurora".[15]

    After the evaluations of the companies’ proposals, theATB competition was narrowed to the Northrop/Boeingand   Lockheed/Rockwell   teams with each receiving astudy contractfor further work.[14] Both teams used flyingwing designs.[15] The Northrop proposal was code named“Senior Ice” and the Lockheed proposal code named"Senior Peg".[16] Northrop had prior experience devel-oping the YB-35 and YB-49 flying wing aircraft.[17] TheNorthrop design was larger while the Lockheed design in-cluded a small tail.[15] In 1979, designer Hal Markarian

    produced a sketch of the aircraft, that bore considerablesimilarities to the final design.[18] The Air Force originallyplanned to procure 165 of the ATB bomber.[1]

    The Northrop team’s ATB design was selected over theLockheed/Rockwell design on 20 October 1981.[14][19]

    The Northrop design received the designation B-2 andthe name “Spirit”. The bomber’s design was changedin the mid-1980s when the mission profile was changedfrom high-altitude to low-altitude, terrain-following. Theredesign delayed the B-2’s first flight by two years andadded about US$1 billion to the program’s cost.[13] Anestimated US$23 billion was secretly spent for research

    and development on the B-2 by 1989.[20] MIT engineersand scientists helped assess the mission effectiveness ofthe aircraft under a five-year classified contract during the

    1980s.[21]

    1.3 Secrecy and espionage

    The B-2’s first public flight in 1989

    During its design and development, the Northrop B-2program was a gray project before its revelation to thepublic.[22] Unlike the Lockheed F-117 program, whichwas a black project, the type of military project of whichvery few people knew even existed while it was beingdesigned and developed, more people within the UnitedStates federal government knew about the B-2 and moreinformation about the project was available. Both during

    development and in service, there has been considerableimportance placed to the security of the B-2 and its tech-nologies. Staff working on the B-2 in most, if not all,capacities have to achieve a level of special-access clear-ance, and undergo extensive background checks carriedout by a special branch of the Air Force.[23]

    For the manufacturing, a former Ford automobile assem-bly plant in  Pico Rivera, California, was acquired andheavily rebuilt; the plant’s employees were sworn to com-plete secrecy regarding their work. To avoid the possi-bility of suspicion, components were typically purchasedthrough front companies, military officials would visit out

    of uniform, and staff members were routinely subjectedto polygraph examinations. The secrecy extended so farthat access to nearly all information on the program byboth Government Accountability Office (GAO) and vir-tually all members of Congress itself was severely limiteduntil the mid-1980s.[24] Northrop (now Northrop Grum-man) was the B-2’s prime contractor; major subcontrac-tors included Boeing, Hughes Aircraft (now Raytheon),GE, and Vought Aircraft.[7]

    In 1984, a Northrop employee, Thomas Cavanaugh wasarrested for attempting to sell classified information totheSoviet Union; the information was taken from Northrop’s

    Pico Rivera, California factory.[25] Cavanaugh was even-tually sentenced to life in prison and released on parole in2001.

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    1.5 Opposition   3

    The B-2 was first publicly displayed on 22 November1988 at United States Air Force Plant 42 in  Palmdale,California, where it was assembled. This viewing washeavily restricted, and guests were not allowed to see therear of the B-2. However,  Aviation Week  editors foundthat there were no airspace restrictions above the presen-

    tation area and took photographs of the aircraft’s then-secret rear section with suppressed engine exhausts fromthe air, to the USAF’s disappointment. The B-2’s (s/n 82-1066 / AV-1) first public flight was on 17 July 1989 fromPalmdale to Edwards AFB.[26]

    In October 2005,   Noshir Gowadia, a design engineerwho worked on the B-2’s propulsion system, was ar-rested for selling B-2 related classified information to for-eign countries.[27] On 9 August 2010, Gowadia was con-victed in the  United States District Court  for the Dis-trict of Hawaii on 14 of 17 charges against him.[28] On24 January 2011, Gowadia was sentenced to 32 years in

    prison.[29]

    1.4 Program costs and procurement

    A procurement of 132 aircraft was planned in the mid-1980s, but was later reduced to 75.[30] By the early1990s, the Soviet Union dissolved, effectively eliminat-ing the Spirit’s primary Cold War mission. Under bud-getary pressures and Congressional opposition, in his1992 State of the Union Address, President George H.W.Bush announced B-2 production would be limited to 20

    aircraft.

    [31]

    In 1996, however, the Clinton administration,though originally committed to ending production of thebombers at 20 aircraft, authorized the conversion of a21st bomber, a prototype test model, to Block 30 fullyoperational status at a cost of nearly $500 million.[32]

    In 1995, Northrop made a proposal to the USAF to build20 additional aircraft with a flyaway cost of $566 millioneach.[33]

    The program was the subject of public controversy forits cost to American taxpayers. In 1996, the  GeneralAccounting Office (GAO) disclosed that the USAF’s B-2 bombers “will be, by far, the most costly bombers

    to operate on a per aircraft basis”, costing over threetimes as much as the  B-1B (US$9.6 million annually)and over four times as much as the B-52H (US$6.8 mil-lion annually). In September 1997, each hour of B-2 flight necessitated 119 hours of maintenance in turn.Comparable maintenance needs for the B-52 and the B-1B are 53 and 60 hours respectively for each hour offlight. A key reason for this cost is the provision ofair-conditioned hangars large enough for the bomber’s172 ft (52 m) wingspan, which are needed to maintainthe aircraft’s stealthy properties, particularly its “low-observable” stealthy skins.[34][35] Maintenance costs areabout $3.4 million a month for each aircraft.[36]

    The total “military construction” cost related to the pro-gram was projected to be US$553.6 million in 1997 dol-

    lars. The cost to procure each B-2 was US$737 millionin 1997 dollars, based only on a fleet cost of US$15.48billion.[3] The procurement cost per aircraft as detailedin GAO reports, which include spare parts and softwaresupport, was $929 million per aircraft in 1997 dollars.[3]

    The total program cost projected through 2004 wasUS$44.75 billion in 1997 dollars. This includes devel-opment, procurement, facilities, construction, and spareparts. The total program cost averaged US$2.13 billionper aircraft.[3] The B-2 may cost up to $135,000 per flighthour to operate in 2010, which is about twice that of theB-52 and B-1.[37][38]

    1.5 Opposition

    In its consideration of the fiscal year 1990 defense budget,the House Armed Services Committee trimmed $800

    million from the B-2 research and development budget,while at the same time staving off a motion to end theproject. Opposition in committee and in Congress wasmostly broad and bipartisan, with Congressmen Ron Del-lums (D-CA), John Kasich (R-OH), and John G. Row-land (R-CT) authorizing the motion to end the project—as well as others in the Senate, including   Jim Exon(D-NE) and  John McCain   (R-AZ) also opposing theproject.[39]

    The escalating cost of the B-2 program and evidenceof flaws in the aircraft’s ability to elude detection byradar,[39] were among factors that drove opposition to

    continue the program. At the peak production periodspecified in 1989, the schedule called for spending US$7billion to $8 billion per year in 1989 dollars, some-thing Committee Chair  Les Aspin  (D-WI) said “won'tfly financially.”[40] In 1990, the Department of Defenseaccused Northrop of using faulty components in theflight control system; the threat posed by bird inges-tion potentially damaging engine fan blades also requiredredesigning.[41]

    In time, a number of prominent members of Congressbegan to oppose the program’s expansion, including laterDemocratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who cast

    votes against the B-2 in 1989, 1991 and 1992 while aU.S. Senator, representing Massachusetts. By 1992, Re-publican President George H.W. Bush called for the can-cellation of the B-2 and promised to cut military spend-ing by 30% in the wake of the collapse of the SovietUnion.[42] In October 1995, former Chief of Staff of theUnited States Air Force, General Mike Ryan, and formerChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Sha-likashvili, strongly recommended against Congressionalaction to fund the purchase of any additional B-2s, argu-ing that to do so would require unacceptable cuts in ex-isting conventional and nuclear-capable aircraft,[43] andthat the military had greater priorities in spending a lim-ited budget.[44]

    Some B-2 advocates argued that procuring twenty ad-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shalikashvilihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shalikashvilihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Ryanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Staff_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Staff_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W._Bushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusettshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_flight_control_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Aspinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Exonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Rowlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Rowlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kasichhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dellumshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dellumshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_and_developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_B-1_Lancerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Officehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Officehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyaway_costhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototypehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W._Bushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W._Bushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union_Addresshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_district_courthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noshir_Gowadiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Week_&_Space_Technologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmdale,_Californiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmdale,_Californiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Plant_42

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    4   2 DESIGN 

    ditional aircraft would save money because B-2s wouldbe able to deeply penetrate anti-aircraft defenses anduse low-cost, short-range attack weapons rather thanexpensive standoff weapons. However, in 1995, theCongressional Budget Office (CBO), and its Director ofNational Security Analysis, found that additional B-2s

    would reduce the cost of expended munitions by less thanUS$2 billion in 1995 dollars during the first two weeksof a conflict, in which the Air Force predicted bomberswould make their greatestcontribution; a small fraction ofthe US$26.8 billion (in 1995 dollars) life cycle cost thatthe CBO projected an additional 20 B-2s would cost.[45]

    In 1997, as Ranking Member of the House Armed Ser-vices Committee and National Security Committee, Con-gressman Ron Dellums (D-CA), a long-time opponent ofthe bomber, cited five independent studies and offeredan amendment to that year’s defense authorization bill tocap production of the bombers to the existing 21 aircraft;

    the amendment was narrowly defeated.[46] Nonetheless,Congress did not approve funding for the purchase of anyadditional B-2 bombers.

    1.6 Further developments

    A number of upgrade packages have been applied to theB-2. In July 2008, the B-2’s onboard computing archi-tecture was extensively redesigned; it now incorporates anew integrated processing unit (IPU) that communicateswith systems throughout the aircraft via a newly installedfiber optic network; a new version of the operational flightprogram software was also developed, with legacy codeconverted from the JOVIAL programming language usedbeforehand to standard C.[47][48] Updates were also madeto the weapon control systems to enable strikes upon non-static targets, such as moving ground vehicles.[49]

    B-2 from below

    On 29 December 2008, Air Force officials awarded aUS$468 million contract to Northrop Grumman to mod-ernize the B-2 fleet’s radars.[50] Changing the radar’sfrequency was required as the   U.S. Department of

    Commerce   has sold that radio spectrum to anotheroperator.[51] In July 2009, it was reported that the B-2had successfully passed a major USAF audit.[52] In 2010,

    it was made public that the Air Force Research Labora-tory had developed a new material to be used on the partof the wing trailing edge subject to engine exhaust, re-placing existing material that quickly degraded.[53]

    In 2013 the USAF contracted for the Defensive Manage-

    ment System Modernization program to replace the an-tenna system and other electronics to increase the B-2’sfrequency awareness.[54] The Common Very Low Fre-quency Receiver upgrade will allow the B-2s to use thesame very low frequency transmissions as the  Ohio-classsubmarines so as to continue in the nuclear mission untilthe Mobile User Objective System is fielded.[55]

    In July 2010, political analyst Rebecca Grant speculatedthat when the B-2 becomes unable to reliably penetrateenemy defenses, the   Lockheed Martin F-35 LightningII  may take on its strike/interdiction  mission, carryingB61 nuclear bombs as a tactical bomber.[56] However, in

    March 2012, the Pentagon announced that a $2 billion,10-year-long modernization of the B-2 fleet was to begin.The main area of improvement would be replacement ofoutdated avionics and equipment.[57]

    It was reported in 2011 that the Pentagon was evaluatingan unmanned stealth bomber, characterized as a “mini-B-2”, as a potential replacement in the near future.[58] In2012, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartzstated the B-2’s 1980s-era stealth would make it less sur-vivable in future contested airspaces, so the USAF is toproceed with the Next-Generation Bomber despite over-all budget cuts.[59] The Next-Generation Bomber was es-timated, in 2012, to have a projected overall cost of $55billion.[60]

    In 2014 the USAF outlined a series of upgrades includ-ing nuclear war fighting, a new integrated processing unit,the ability to carry cruise missiles, and threat warningimprovements.[61]

    2 Design

    Side view of a B-2 Spirit 

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    2.3 Avionics and systems    5

    2.1 Overview

    The B-2 Spirit was developed to take over the USAF’svital penetration missions, able to travel deep into enemyterritory to deploy their ordnance, which could includenuclear weapons.[62] The B-2 is a  flying wing   aircraft,

    meaning it has no fuselage or tail.[62] The blending oflow-observable technologies with high aerodynamic effi-ciency and large payload gives the B-2 significant advan-tages over previous bombers. Low observability providesa greater freedom of action at high altitudes, thus increas-ing both range and field of view for onboard sensors. TheU.S. Air Force reports its range as approximately 6,000nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km).[7][63] At cruisingaltitude the B-2 refuels every six hours, taking on up to50 short tons (45,000 kg) of fuel at a time.[64]

    Due to the aircraft’s complex flight characteristics and de-sign requirements to maintain very-low visibility to mul-

    tiple means of detection, both the development and con-struction of the B-2 required pioneering use of computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies.[62][65] TheB-2 bears a resemblance to earlier Northrop aircraft: theYB-35 and YB-49 were both flying wing bombers thathad been canceled in development in the early 1950s,[66]

    allegedly for political reasons.[67] The resemblance goesas far as B-2 and YB-49 having the same wingspan.[68][69]

    As of September 2013 about 80 pilots fly the B-2. [64]

    Each aircraft has a crew of two, a pilot in the left seatand mission commander in the right,[7] and has provi-sions for a third crew member if needed.[70] For compar-

    ison, the B-1B has a crew of four and the B-52 has a crewof five.[7] The B-2 is highly automated and, unlike mosttwo-seat aircraft, one crew member can sleep in a  campbed, use a toilet, or prepare a hot meal while the othermonitors the aircraft; extensive  sleep cycle  and fatigueresearch was conducted to improve crew performance onlong sorties.[71][72][64]

    2.2 Armaments and equipment

    A 2,000 lb (910 kg) BDU-56 bomb being loaded onto a bomb

    bay’s rotary launcher, 2004

    The B-2, in the envisaged Cold War scenario, was to

    perform deep-penetrating nuclear strike missions, mak-ing use of its stealthy capabilities to avoid detection andinterception throughout missions.[73] There are two in-ternal bomb bays in which munitions are stored eitheron a rotary launcher or two bomb-racks; the carriage ofthe weapons loadouts internally results in less radar vis-

    ibility than external mounting of munitions.[74][75] TheB-2 is capable of carrying 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) ofordnance.[7][76] Nuclear ordnance includes the B61  andB83 nuclear bombs; the AGM-129 ACM cruise missilewas also intended for use on the B-2 platform.[75][77]

    It was decided, in light of the dissolution of the SovietUnion, to equip the B-2 for conventional precision attacksas well as for the strategic role of nuclear-strike.[73][78]

    The B-2 features a sophisticated GPS-Aided Target-ing System (GATS) that uses the aircraft’s  APQ-181synthetic aperture radar to map out targets prior to de-ployment of GPS-aided bombs (GAMs), later superseded

    by the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). In the B-2’soriginal configuration, up to 16 GAMs or JDAMs couldbe deployed;[79] an upgrade program in 2004 raised themaximum carriable capacity to 80 JDAMs.[80]

    The B-2 has various conventional weapons in its arse-nal, able to equip Mark 82 and Mark 84 bombs, CBU-87 Combined Effects Munitions,   GATOR mines, andthe  CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon.[81] In July 2009,Northrop Grumman reported the B-2 was compatiblewith the equipment necessary to deploy the 30,000 lb(14,000 kg) Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), whichis intended to attack reinforced bunkers; up to two MOPs

    could be equipped in the B-2’s bomb bays,[82] the B-2 is the only platform compatible with the MOP as of2012.[57] As of 2011, the AGM-158 JASSM cruise mis-sile is an upcoming standoff munition to be deployed onthe B-2 and other platforms.[83] This is to be followed bythe Long Range Standoff Weapon which may give the B-2 a standoff nuclear capability for the first time.[84]

    2.3 Avionics and systems

    In order to make the B-2 more effective than previousbombers, many advanced and modern avionics systemswere integrated into its design, these have been modifiedand improved following a switch to conventional warfaremissions. One system is the low probability of interceptAN/APQ-181 multi-mode radar, a fully digital naviga-tion system that is integrated with terrain-following radarand Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance, NAS-26astro-inertial navigation system (first such system testedon the Northrop  SM-62 Snark   cruise missile)[85] anda Defensive Management System (DMS) to inform theflight crew of possible threats.[80] The onboard DMS iscapable of automatically assessing the detection capabil-ities of identified threats and indicated targets.[86] The

    DMS will be upgraded by 2021 to detect radar emissionsfrom air defenses to allow changes to the auto-router’smission planning information while in-flight so it can re-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM-62_Snarkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro-inertial_navigation_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_Systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrain-following_radarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/APQ-181https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_probability_of_intercepthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Standoff_Weaponhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-158_JASSMhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunkerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Ordnance_Penetratorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-97_Sensor_Fuzed_Weaponhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GATOR_mine_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-87_Combined_Effects_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-87_Combined_Effects_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_84_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_82_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-37https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_Systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_aperture_radarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APQ-181_radarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-129_ACMhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B83_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortiehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(safety)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_cyclehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_bedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_bedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-35https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_manufacturinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_refuelinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_milehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_winghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon

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    2.5 Stealth   7

    vide air cover, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses andelectronic countermeasures, making the bomber a "forcemultiplier". As of September 2013, there have been noinstances of a missile being launched at a B-2.[64]

    To reduce optical visibility during daylight flights, the

    B-2 is painted in an anti-reflective paint.

    [75]

    The under-sides are dark because it flies at high altitudes (50,000ft (15,000 m)), and at that altitude a dark grey paint-ing blends well into the sky. It is speculated to have anupward-facing light sensor which alerts the pilot to in-crease or reduce altitude to match the changing illumi-nance of the sky.[97] The original design had tanks for acontrail-inhibiting chemical, but this was replaced in pro-duction aircraft by a contrail sensor that alerts the crewwhen they should change altitude.[98] The B-2 is vulnera-ble to visual interception at ranges of 20 nmi (23 mi; 37km) or less.[64]

    2.5.1 Radar

    Reportedly, the B-2 has a radar cross-section of about0.1 m2 (1.1 sq ft).[99] The bomber does not always flystealthily; when nearing air defenses pilots “stealth up”the B-2, the details of which are secret. The aircraft is notseen by radar, except briefly when the bomb bay opens.The B-2’s clean, low-drag flying wing configuration notonly provides exceptional range but is also beneficial toreducing its radar profile.[62][100] The flying wing designmost closely resembles a so-called infinite flat plate (asvertical control surfaces dramatically increase RCS), theperfect stealth shape, as it would lack angles to reflectback radar waves (initially, the shape of the NorthropATB concept was flatter; it gradually increased in volumeaccording to specific military requirements).[101]

    Illustration of the B-2’s basic radar reflection angles 

    RCS reduction as a result of shape had already been ob-served on the Royal Air Force's Avro Vulcan strategicbomber,[102] and the USAF’s F-117 Nighthawk. The F-117 used flat surfaces (faceting technique) for controllingradar returns as during its development (see  LockheedHave Blue) in the early 1970s, technology only allowedfor the simulation of radar reflections on simple, flat sur-faces; computing advances in the 1980s made it possi-ble to simulate radar returns on more complex curved

    surfaces.[103] The B-2 is composed of many curved androunded surfaces across its exposed airframe to deflectradar beams. This technique, known as continuous cur-

    vature, was made possible by advances in computationalfluid dynamics, and first tested on the  Northrop TacitBlue.[104][105]

    The leading edges of the wing converge at the nose ofthe aircraft, which prevents radar reflections in the di-

    rection of flight; the W-shaped rear of the aircraft is forsimilar reasons. The engine air intakes are placed on topof the fuselage to minimize reflection to ground-basedradar. To avoid detection by look-down radars, enginesare buried within the B-2’s wing (S-duct) to conceal theengines’ fans. The B-2 also carries all ordnance internally.

    2.5.2 Infrared

    The gap below the air intake has the purpose of sucking in cool 

    air 

    Some analysts claim infra-red search and track systems(IRSTs) can be deployed against stealth aircraft, becauseany aircraft surface heats up due to air friction and with

    a two channel IRST is a CO2 (4.3 µm absorption max-ima) detection possible, through difference comparingbetween the low and high channel.[106][107]

    Burying engines deep inside the fuselage also mini-mizes the thermal visibility or infrared signature of theexhaust.[75][108] At the engine intake, cold air from theboundary layer below the main inlet enters the fuselage(boundary layer suction, first tested on the Northrop X-21) and is mixed with hot exhaust air just before thenozzles (similar to the Ryan AQM-91 Firefly). Accordingto the Stefan–Boltzmann law, this results in less energy(thermal radiation in infrared spectrum) being released

    and thus a reduced heat signature. The resulting coolerair is conducted over a surface composed of heat resistantcarbon-fiber-reinforced polymer and  titanium alloy ele-ments, which disperse the air laterally, in order to accel-erate its cooling.[90] The B-2 lacks afterburners as the hotexhaust would increase the infrared footprint; breakingthe sound barrier would produce an obvious sonic boomas well as aerodynamic heating of the aircraft skin whichwould also increase the infrared footprint.

    2.5.3 Materials

    According to the Huygens–Fresnel principle, even a veryflat plate would still reflect radar waves, though much lessthan when a signal is bouncing at a right angle. Addi-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens%E2%80%93Fresnel_principlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_skinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerodynamic_heatinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_barrierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterburnerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_alloyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon-fiber-reinforced_polymerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan%E2%80%93Boltzmann_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_AQM-91_Fireflyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozzlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_X-21https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_X-21https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_layer_suctionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_layerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_signaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infra-red_search_and_trackhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-ducthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look-down/shoot-downhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Tacit_Bluehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Tacit_Bluehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_fluid_dynamicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_fluid_dynamicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Have_Bluehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Have_Bluehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facetinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_winghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_cross-sectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrailhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photodetectorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_camouflagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_multiplierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_multiplierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_countermeasurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppression_of_Enemy_Air_Defenses

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    8   3 OPERATIONAL HISTORY 

    tional reduction in its radar signature was achieved by theuse of various radar-absorbent materials (RAM) to ab-sorb and neutralize radar beams. The majority of the B-2is made out of a carbon-graphite composite material thatis stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum. Perhapsmost crucially, a beneficial characteristic of this compos-

    ite material is the absorption of significant amounts ofradar energy.[66]

    The B-2 is assembled with unusually tight  engineeringtolerances to avoid leaks as they could increase its radarsignature.[71] Innovations such as alternate high frequencymaterial (AHFM) and automated material applicationmethods were also incorporated into the aircraft to en-hance its radar-absorbent properties and lower main-tenance requirements.[75][109] In early 2004, NorthropGrumman began applying a newly developed AHFM tooperational B-2s.[110] In order to protect the operationalintegrity of its sophisticated radar absorbent material and

    coatings, each B-2 is kept inside a climate-controlledhangar (Extra Large Deployable Aircraft Hangar Sys-tem) large enough to accommodate its 172-foot (52 m)wingspan.[111]

    3 Operational history

    A B-2 during aerial refueling which extends its range past 6,000

    nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) for intercontinental sorties 

    The first operational aircraft, christened   Spirit of Mis-souri , was delivered to   Whiteman Air Force Base,Missouri, where the fleet is based, on 17 December1993.[112] The B-2 reached initial operational capability(IOC) on 1 January 1997.[113] Depot maintenance for theB-2 is accomplished by U.S. Air Force contractor supportand managed at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center  atTinker Air Force Base.[7] Originally designed to delivernuclear weapons, modern usage has shifted towards aflexible role with conventional and nuclear capability.[75]

    The B-2’s combat debut was in 1999, during the KosovoWar. It was responsible for destroying 33% of selected

    Serbian bombing targets in the first eight weeks of U.S.involvement in the War.[7] During this war, six B-2s flewnon-stop to Kosovo from their home base in Missouri

    and back, totalling 30 hours. Although the bombers ac-counted 50 sorties out of a total of 34,000 NATO sorties,they dropped 11 percent of all bombs.[114] The B-2 wasthe first aircraft to deploy GPS satellite-guided  JDAM“smart bombs”  in combat use in Kosovo.[115] The useof JDAMs and precision-guided munitions effectively re-

    placed the controversial tactic of carpet-bombing, whichhad been harshly criticized due to it causing indiscrim-inate civilian casualties in prior conflicts, such as the1991 Gulf War.[116] On 7 May 1999, a B-2 dropped fiveJDAMs on a target building that was actually the ChineseEmbassy, killing several staff.[117] By then, the B-2 haddropped 500 bombs in Kosovo.[118]

    The B-2 saw service in Afghanistan, striking ground tar-gets in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Withaerial refueling support, the B-2 flew one of its longestmissions to date from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mis-souri to Afghanistan and back.[7] B-2s would be stationed

    in the Middle East as a part of a US military buildup inthe region from 2003.[119]

    The B-2’s combat use preceded a U.S. Air Force declara-tion of “full operational capability” in December 2003.[7]

    The Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation 2003Annual Report noted that the B-2’s serviceability for Fis-cal Year 2003 was still inadequate, mainly due to themaintainability of the B-2’s low observable coatings. Theevaluation also noted that the Defensive Avionics suitehad shortcomings with “pop-up threats”.[7][120]

    During the Iraq War   (Operation Iraqi Freedom), B-2soperated from  Diego Garcia  and an undisclosed “for-ward operating location”. Other   sorties   in Iraq havelaunched from Whiteman AFB.[7] As of September 2013the longest combat mission has been 44.3 hours.[64] “For-ward operating locations” have been previously desig-nated as Andersen Air Force Base   in Guam and RAFFairford in the United Kingdom, where new climate con-trolled hangars have been constructed. B-2s have con-ducted 27 sorties from Whiteman AFB and 22 sortiesfrom a forward operating location, releasing more than1,500,000 pounds (680,000 kg) of munitions,[7] includ-ing 583 JDAM “smart bombs” in 2003.[80]

    In response to organizational issues and high-profile mis-takes made within the Air Force,[121][122] all of the B-2s,along with the nuclear-capable B-52s and the Air Force’sintercontinental ballistic missiles   (ICBMs), were trans-ferred to the newly formed Air Force Global Strike Com-mand on 1 February 2010.[123][124]

    In March 2011, B-2s were the first U.S. aircraft into ac-tion in Operation Odyssey Dawn, the UN mandated en-forcement of the Libyan no-fly zone. Three B-2s dropped40 bombs on a Libyan airfield in support of the UN no-flyzone.[125] The B-2s flew directly from the U.S. mainlandacross the Atlantic Ocean to Libya; a B-2 was refueledby allied tanker aircraft four times during each round tripmission.[126][127]

    In August 2011, The New Yorker reported that prior to the

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Yorkerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_no-fly_zonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Odyssey_Dawnhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Global_Strike_Commandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Global_Strike_Commandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_ballistic_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fairfordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fairfordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersen_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortiehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garciahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_embassy_in_Belgradehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._bombing_of_the_Chinese_embassy_in_Belgradehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Gulf_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpet_bombinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullseye_(target)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_Air_Logistics_Centerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missourihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteman_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_refuelinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Large_Deployable_Aircraft_Hangar_Systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Large_Deployable_Aircraft_Hangar_Systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_frequencyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_tolerancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_tolerancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_materialhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar-absorbent_material

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    9

    May 2011 U.S. Special Operations raid into Abbottabad,Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden,U.S. officials had considered an airstrike by one or moreB-2s as an alternative; an airstrike was rejected becauseof damage to civilian buildings in the area from using abunker busting bomb.[128] There were also concerns an

    airstrike would make it difficult to positively identify BinLaden’s remains and so concluding he was in fact deadwould be problematic.[129]

    On 28 March 2013, two B-2s flew a round trip of 13,000miles (21,000 km) from Whiteman Air Force base inMissouri to South Korea, dropping dummy ordnance onthe Jik Do target range. The mission, part of the an-nual South Korean–United States military exercises, wasthe first time that B-2s overflew the Korean peninsula.Tensions between North and South Korea were high dur-ing and after the exercise, North Korea protested againstthe participation of the B-2s and made threats of retalia-

    tory nuclear strikes against South Korea and the UnitedStates.[130][131]

    4 Operators

    In a 1994 live fire exercise near  Point Mugu , California, a B-2

    drops 47 individual 500 lb (230 kg)-class Mark 82 bombs, which

    is more than half of a B-2’s total ordnance payload.

    United States Air Force (20 aircraft in active inventory)

    Global Strike Command

    •   509th Bomb Wing –  Whiteman Air Force Base,Missouri (currently has 19 B-2s)

    13th Bomb Squadron 2005–

    325th Bomb Squadron 1998–2005

    393d Bomb Squadron 1993–

    394th Combat Training Squadron1996–

    Air Combat Command

    •  53d Wing – Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

    72d Test and Evaluation Squadron(Whiteman) 1998–

    •  57th Wing – Nellis AFB, Nevada

    325th Weapons Squadron  2005–(Whiteman)

    715th Weapons Squadron 2003–05

    Air National Guard

    •   131st Bomb Wing  (Associate) –   Whiteman AirForce Base 2009–

    110th Bomb Squadron

    Air Force Materiel Command

    •  412th Test Wing –  Edwards Air Force Base, Cali-fornia (has one B-2)

    419th Flight Test Squadron 1997–

    420th Flight Test Squadron 1992–97

    Air Force Systems Command

    •   6510th Test Wing – Edwards AFB 1989–92

    6520th Flight Test Squadron

    5 Accidents

    Main article:  2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 acci-dentOn 23 February 2008, B-2 “AV-12”   Spirit of Kansas 

    crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff fromAndersen Air Force Base in Guam.[132] Spirit of Kansas had been operated by the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509thBomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, andhad logged 5,176 flight hours. The two person crewejected safely from the aircraft and survived the crash.The aircraft was completely destroyed, a  hull loss  val-ued at US$1.4 billion.[133][134] After the accident, the Air

    Force took the B-2 fleet off operational status until clear-ing the fleet for flight status 53 days later on 15 April2008.[135] The cause of the crash was later determined to

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    10   7 SPECIFICATIONS (B-2A BLOCK 30)

    Wreckage of the 2008 B-2 crash

    be moisture in the aircraft’s Port Transducer Units dur-

    ing air data calibration, which distorted the informationbeing sent to the bomber’s air data system. As a result,the flight control computers calculated an inaccurate air-speed, and a negative angle of attack, causing the aircraftto pitch upward 30 degrees during takeoff.[136] This wasthe first crash of a B-2 and the only loss as of 2016.

    In February 2010, another serious incident involving a B-2 occurred at Andersen AFB. The aircraft involved wasAV-11   Spirit of Washington. The aircraft was severelydamaged by fire while on the ground and underwent 18months of repairs in order to enable it to fly back to themainland for more comprehensive repairs.[137][138] Spirit of Washington  was repaired and returned to service inDecember 2013.[139][140] At the time of the accident theUSAF had no training to deal with tailpipe fires on theB-2s.[141]

    6 Aircraft on display

    Mockup of a B-2 Spirit on display at the National Museum of the

    United States Air Force

    No operational B-2s have been retired by the Air Force tobe put on display. B-2s have made periodic appearances

    on ground display at various air shows.

    B-2 test article (s/n AT-1000), the second of two builtwithout engines or instruments for static testing, wasplaced on display in 2004 at the National Museum of theUnited States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.[142] The test

    article passed all structural testing requirements beforethe airframe failed.[143] The Museum’s restoration teamspent over a year reassembling the fractured airframe.The display airframe is marked to resemble The Spirit of Ohio (S/N82-1070), the B-2 used to test the design’s abil-ity to withstand extreme heat and cold.[142] The exhibitfeatures Spirit of Ohio's nose wheel door, with its Fire and Ice artwork, which was painted and signed by the tech-nicians who performed the temperature testing.[142] Therestored test aircraft is on display in the museum’s “ColdWar Gallery”.[144]

    From 1989 to 2004, the  South Dakota Air and Space

    Museum located on the grounds of Ellsworth Air ForceBase displayed the 10-short-ton (9-metric-ton) “Honda-Stealth”, a 60% scale  mock-up   of a stealthy bomberwhich had been built by North American  Honda   in1988 for an  advertising campaign.[145] Honda donatedthe model to the museum in 1989, on condition that themodel be destroyed if it was ever replaced with a differentexample. The museum received a B-1 Lancer for display(Ellsworth being a B-1 base) in 2005 and destroyed themock-up.[146][147]

    7 Specifications (B-2A Block 30)

    Orthographically projected diagram of the B-2 Spirit 

    Data from USAF Fact Sheet,[7] Pace,[148] Spick[63]

    General characteristics

    •   Crew:  2: pilot and commander (co-pilot)

    •   Length:  69 ft (21.0 m)

    •   Wingspan: 172 ft (52.4 m)

    •   Height: 17 ft (5.18 m)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingspanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_campaignhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock-uphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_tonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_Air_and_Space_Museumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_Air_and_Space_Museumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton,_Ohiohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_showhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockup

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    11

    A B-2 in formation flight with eight U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets 

    and  Super Hornets 

    •  Wing area:  5,140 ft² (478 m²)

    •  Empty weight:  158,000 lb (71,700 kg)

    •  Loaded weight: 336,500 lb (152,200 kg)

    •  Max. takeoff weight: 376,000 lb (170,600 kg)

    •   Powerplant:   4 × General Electric F118-GE-100non-afterburning turbofans, 17,300 lbf (77 kN) each

    •  Fuel Capacity: 167,000 pounds (75,750 kg)

    Performance

    •   Maximum speed:   Mach 0.95 (550 knots, 630mph, 1,010 km/h) at 40,000 ft altitude / Mach 0.95at sea level[148]

    •  Cruise speed:  Mach 0.85[63] (487 knots, 560 mph,900 km/h) at 40,000 ft altitude

    •   Range:  6,000 nmi (11,100 km (6,900 mi))

    •   Service ceiling:  50,000 ft (15,200 m)

    •  Wing loading: 67.3 lb/ft² (329 kg/m²)

    •   Thrust/weight: 0.205

    Armament

    •   2 internal bays for ordnance and payload with an of-ficial limit of 40,000 lb (18,000 kg); maximum es-timated limit is 50,000 lb (23,000 kg).[63]

    •  80× 500 lb class bombs (Mk-82,  GBU-38)mounted on Bomb Rack Assembly (BRA)

    •  36× 750 lb CBU class bombs on BRA

    •   16× 2,000 lb class bombs (Mk-84,   GBU-31) mounted on Rotary Launcher Assembly(RLA)

    •   16×   B61   or   B83   nuclear bombs on RLA(strategic mission)

    •   Standoff weapon: AGM-154 Joint StandoffWeapon (JSOW) and AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).  [149][150]

    8 Individual aircraft

    Spirit of Indiana sits on the ramp at  Andersen AFB  in Guam on23 June 2006 

    Spirit of New York

    B-2 in flight over the Mississippi River  (St. Louis  , Missouri) with

    the Gateway Arch and  Busch Stadium in the background 

    Sources: B-2 Spirit (Pace),[153] Fas.org[154]

    9 Notable appearances in media

    Main article: Aircraft in fiction § B-2 Spirit

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_in_fiction#B-2_Spirithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busch_Stadiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Archhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis,_Missourihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Riverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersen_AFBhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_ramphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B83_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_84_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munitionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_82_bombhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust-to-weight_ratiohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_loadinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiling_(aeronautics)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(aeronautics)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_speeds#Vchttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_speeds#Regulatory_V-speedshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbofanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_F118https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_enginehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_takeoff_weighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturer%2527s_empty_weighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet

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    12   11 REFERENCES 

    10 See also

    •  Northrop Grumman B-21

    •  Northrop YB-49

    Related lists

    •   List of active United States military aircraft

    •   List of bomber aircraft

    •  List of flying wing aircraft

    •  List of aerospace megaprojects

    11 References

    11.1 Notes

    [1]  “Northrop B-2A Spirit fact sheet.”   National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved: 13 September2009.

    [2] Mehuron, Tamar A., Assoc. Editor.   “2009 USAF Al-manac, Fact and Figures.” Air Force Magazine, May 2009.Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

    [3]   “B-2 Bomber: Cost and Operational Issues Letter Report,14 August 1997, GAO/NSIAD-97-181.”   United States General Accounting Office (GAO). Retrieved: 13 Septem-

    ber 2009.

    [4] Thornborough, A.M.; Stealth, Aircraft Illustrated special,Ian Allan (1991).

    [5] Rolfsen, Bruce.   “Moisture confused sensors in B-2crash.”   Air Force Times , 9 June 2008. Retrieved: 13September 2009.

    [6]  Air Force Upgrades B-2 Stealth Bomber as Modern AirDefenses Advance - Military.com, 24 April 2015

    [7]  “B-2 Spirit Fact Sheet.” U.S. Air Force. Retrieved: 8 Jan-uary 2015.

    [8] Rao, G.A. and S.P. Mahulikar. “Integrated review ofstealth technology and its role in airpower”.  Aeronautical Journal , v. 106 (1066), 2002, pp. 629–641.

    [9] Crickmore and Crickmore 2003, p. 9.

    [10]  “Stealth Aircraft.”  U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission,2003. Retrieved: 5 November 2012.

    [11] Griffin and Kinnu 2007, pp. 14–15.

    [12]  Withington 2006, p. 7

    [13] Goodall 1992,

    [14] Pace 1999, pp. 20–27.

    [15] Rich and Janos 1994,

    [16]  http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/newb2_1.html Northrop B-2A Spirit

    [17]  Donald 2003, p. 13

    [18] Sweetman 1991, pp. 21, 30.

    [19]  Spick 2000, p. 339

    [20] Van Voorst, Bruce. “The Stealth Takes Wing.”  Time, 31July 1989. Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

    [21] Griffin and Kinnu 2007, pp. ii–v.

    [22]   YouTube.   youtube.com.

    [23] Vartaebedian, Ralph. “Defense worker loses job over histies to India”.  Los Angeles Times , 16 February 1993.

    [24] Atkinson, Rick.   “Unraveling Stealth’s `BlackWorld';Questions of Cost and Mission Arise AmidDebate Over Secrecy Series: Project Senior C.J.; The

    Story Behind The B-2 Bomber Series Number: 2/3.”Washington Post , 9 October 1989.

    [25] AP. “Stealth bomber classified documents missing.”  TheNew York Times , 24 June 1987. Retrieved: 13 September2009.

    [26] Pace 1999, pp. 29–36.

    [27]  “Press Release.”  FBI Honolulu.  Retrieved:: 1 December2010.

    [28] Bowes, Peter.   “US engineer sold military secrets toChina.”   BBC , 9 August 2010. Retrieved: 1 December

    2010.[29] Foster, Peter.   “Engineer jailed for selling US stealth

    bomber technology to China.”  The Telegram, 24 January2011.

    [30] Pace 1999, pp. 75–76.

    [31]   “President George H. Bush’s State of the Union Address.”c-span.org, 28 January 1992. Retrieved: 13 September2009. Archived June 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.

    [32] Graham, Bradley. “US to add one B-2 plane to 20 planefleet.” Washington Post , 22 March 1996, p. A20.

    [33] Eden 2004, pp. 350–353.

    [34] Capaccio, Tony. “The B-2’s Stealthy Skins Need Tender,Lengthy Care.” Defense Week , 27 May 1997, p. 1.

    [35]   US General Accounting Office  September 1996, pp. 53,56.

    [36]   “The Gold Plated Hangar Queen Survives.”   Strategy-world.com, 14 June 2010. Retrieved: 8 April 2011.

    [37] Axe, David.  “Why Can't the Air Force Build an Afford-able Plane?" The Atlantic, 26 March 2012. Retrieved: 30June 2012.

    [38] Trimble, Stephen.   “Exclusive: US Air Force combatfleet’s true operational costs revealed.”   flightglobal.com,26 August 2011.

    http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/08/exclusive-us-air-force-combat.htmlhttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/08/exclusive-us-air-force-combat.htmlhttp://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/why-cant-the-air-force-build-an-affordable-plane/254998/http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/why-cant-the-air-force-build-an-affordable-plane/254998/http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20100614.aspxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machinehttps://web.archive.org/web/20130613212158/http://www.c-span.org/executive/transcript.asp?cat=current_event&code=bush_admin&year=1992http://www.c-span.org/executive/transcript.asp?cat=current_event&code=bush_admin&year=1992http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8280233/Engineer-jailed-for-selling-US-stealth-bomber-technology-to-China.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8280233/Engineer-jailed-for-selling-US-stealth-bomber-technology-to-China.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10922531http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10922531http://web.archive.org/web/20070222093416/http://honolulu.fbi.gov/pressrel/2005/goodwin102605.htmhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1DB1231F937A15755C0A961948260http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1216253.htmlhttp://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1216253.htmlhttp://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1216253.htmlhttp://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1216253.htmlhttp://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/6359225.html?dids=6359225:6359225&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+16%252C+1993&author=Vartaebedian%252C+Ralph&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Defense+worker+loses+job+over+his+ties+to+India&pqatl=googlehttp://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/6359225.html?dids=6359225:6359225&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+16%252C+1993&author=Vartaebedian%252C+Ralph&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Defense+worker+loses+job+over+his+ties+to+India&pqatl=googlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQPIlXe2H0http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958256,00.html?promoid=googlephttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFSpick2000https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFDonald2003http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/newb2_1.htmlhttp://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/newb2_1.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFWithington2006http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/Stealth_aircraft/Tech31.htmhttp://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104482/b-2-spirit.aspxhttp://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/04/24/air-force-upgrades-b2-stealth-bomber-as-air-defenses-advance.html?ESRC=todayinmil.smhttp://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/04/24/air-force-upgrades-b2-stealth-bomber-as-air-defenses-advance.html?ESRC=todayinmil.smhttp://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/06/airforce_b2_crashreport_060508w/http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/06/airforce_b2_crashreport_060508w/https://fas.org/man/gao/nsiad97181.htmhttps://fas.org/man/gao/nsiad97181.htmhttp://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%2520Documents/2009/May%25202009/0509facts_fig.pdfhttp://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%2520Documents/2009/May%25202009/0509facts_fig.pdfhttp://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2757https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_megaprojects#Aerospace_projectshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flying_wing_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bomber_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_States_military_aircrafthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-21

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    11.1 Notes    13

    [39] Schmitt, Eric.   “Key Senate Backer of Stealth BomberSees It in Jeopardy.”  The New York Times , 14 September1991. Retrieved: 23 July 2009.

    [40]  Sorenson 1995, p. 168

    [41] “Moisture in sensors led to stealth bomber crash, Air

    Force report says.” Kansas City Star , 5 June 2008.

    [42]   “Zell Miller’s Attack on Kerry: A Little Out Of Date.”FactCheck.org, 4 October 2004. Retrieved: 26 October2004.

    [43] Bender, Brian and John Robinson. “More StealthBombers Mean Less Combat Power”.   Defense Daily, 5August 1997, p. 206.

    [44]   US General Accounting Office September 1996, p. 70.

    [45]   US General Accounting Office September 1996, p. 72.

    [46]   “Debate on Dellums Amendment to 1998 Defense Autho-rization Act.” fas.org, 23 June 1997.

    [47] McKinney, Brooks.  “Air Force Completes PreliminaryDesign Review of New B-2 Bomber Computer Architec-ture.” Northrop Grumman, 7 July 2008. Retrieved: 8 June2011.

    [48]  “Semantic Designs Aligns with Northrop Grumman toModernize B-2 Spirit Bomber Software Systems”.   Se-mantic Designs . Retrieved: 8 June 2011.

    [49] McKinney, Brooks. “Northrop Grumman Adding MobileTargets to B-2 Bomber Capabilities.” Northrop Grumman,7 February 2008. Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

    [50]   “B-2 radar modernization program contract awarded.”  US Air Force, 30 December 2008. Retrieved: 13 September2009.

    [51] Warwick, Graham.  “USAF Awards B-2 Radar UpgradeProduction.”   Aviation Week , 30 December 2008. Re-trieved: 13 September 2009.

    [52] Jennings, Gareth. “B-2 passes modernisation milestones.”Janes , 24 July 2009. Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

    [53]   “New Composite to Improve B-2 Durability.”  Defense-Update, 19 November 2010.   Archived May 9, 2013, at

    the Wayback Machine.

    [54]   “Bolstering Spirits in the Year of the B-2”.  af.mil .

    [55] John Pike. “B-2 undergoes comm upgrade”.   twitya.com.

    [56]  Grant, Rebecca. “Nukes for NATO.” Air Force Magazine,July 2010.

    [57] Kelley, Michael. “The Air Force Announced It’s Upgrad-ing The One Plane It Needs To Bomb Iran.”  Business In-sider, 28 March 2012.

    [58]  “Pentagon Wants Unmanned Stealth Bomber to ReplaceB-2.” LA Times  via uasvision.com, 24 March 2011.

    [59] Schogol, Jeff.  “Schwartz Defends Cost of USAF’s Next-Gen Bomber.” Defense News . 29 February 2012.

    [60] Less, Eloise. “Questions about whether the US needs an-other $55 billion worth of bombers.” Business Insider, 27March 2012.

    [61] Osborn, Kris (25 June 2014).  “B-2 Bomber Set to Re-ceive Massive Upgrade”.   www.dodbuzz.com (Monster).Retrieved 25 June 2014.

    [62] Croddy and Wirtz 2005, pp. 341–342.

    [63] Spick 2000, pp. 340–341.

    [64] Chiles, James R. (September 2013). “The Stealth BomberElite”.  Air & Space. Retrieved 9 September 2013.

    [65] Sweetman 2005, pp. 73–74.

    [66]  Boyne 2002, p. 466

    [67]  Fitzsimons 1978, p. 2282

    [68] Noland, David. "Bombers: Northrop B-2"   Infoplease,2007. Accessed: 24 April 2014.

    [69] "The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber" Military Heat , 2007. Ac-cessed: 24 April 2014.

    [70]   “B-2 Spirit page.”   Northrop Grumman. Retrieved: 13September 2009.

    [71] Tirpak, John A. (April 1996).   “With the First B-2Squadron”.   Air Force Magazine  79  (4). Archived fromthe original on 2013-11-12.

    [72] Kenagy, David N., Christopher T. Bird, Christopher M.Webber and Joseph R. Fischer.  “Dextroamphetamine Use

    During B-2 Combat Mission.” Aviation, Space, and Envi-ronmental Medicine, Volume 75, Number 5, May 2004,pp. 381–386.

    [73]  Tucker 2010, p. 39

    [74] Moir and Seabridge 2008, p. 398.

    [75]  Tucker 2010, p. 177

    [76] “B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber” Air Force Technology Web.28 Oct. 2014.

    [77] Richardson 2001, pp. 120–121.

    [78] Rip and Hasik 2002, p. 201.

    [79] Rip and Hasik 2002, pp. 242–246.

    [80]   “Air Force programs: B-2.”  Project On Government Over-sight  (POGO), 16 April 2004. Retrieved: 13 September2009.

    [81]  Evans 2004, p. 13

    [82] Mayer, Daryl.   “Northrop Grumman and USAF Ver-ify Proper Fit of 30,000 lb Penetrator Weapon on B-2 Bomber.”  defpro.com, 22 July 2009. Retrieved: 13September 2009.

    [83]   “AGM-158 JASSM Cruise Missiles: FY 2011 Orders.”Defense Industry Daily, 14 May 2011.

    http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/AGM-158-JASSM-Cruise-Missiles-FY-2011-Orders-06895/http://www.defpro.com/news/details/8738/http://www.defpro.com/news/details/8738/http://www.defpro.com/news/details/8738/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFEvans2004http://pogoarchives.org/m/dp/dp-2003-B2.pdfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFTucker2010https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFTucker2010http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2004/00000075/00000005/art00001http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2004/00000075/00000005/art00001http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1996/April%25201996/0496bomber.aspxhttp://web.archive.org/web/20131112190523/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1996/April%25201996/0496bomber.aspxhttp://web.archive.org/web/20131112190523/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1996/April%25201996/0496bomber.aspxhttp://www.is.northropgrumman.com/systems/b2spirit.htmlhttp://www.military-heat.com/42/b2-spirit-stealth-bomber/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/northropb2.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFFitzsimons1978https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFBoyne2002http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/The-Stealth-Bomber-Elite-220257381.html?c=y&story=fullstoryhttp://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/The-Stealth-Bomber-Elite-220257381.html?c=y&story=fullstoryhttp://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/06/25/b-2-bomber-set-to-receive-massive-upgrade/http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/06/25/b-2-bomber-set-to-receive-massive-upgrade/http://www.businessinsider.com/next-generation-b2-bomber-2012-3#ixzz23B2bpS7shttp://www.businessinsider.com/next-generation-b2-bomber-2012-3#ixzz23B2bpS7shttp://www.defensenews.com/article/20120229/DEFREG02/302290005/Schwartz-Defends-Cost-USAF-8217-s-Next-Gen-Bomber?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGEhttp://www.defensenews.com/article/20120229/DEFREG02/302290005/Schwartz-Defends-Cost-USAF-8217-s-Next-Gen-Bomber?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGEhttp://www.uasvision.com/2011/05/24/pentagon-wants-unmanned-stealth-bomber-to-replace-b-2/http://www.uasvision.com/2011/05/24/pentagon-wants-unmanned-stealth-bomber-to-replace-b-2/http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-28/news/31247799_1_b-2s-whiteman-air-force-base-stealth-bombers#ixzz23B3VEieThttp://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-28/news/31247799_1_b-2s-whiteman-air-force-base-stealth-bombers#ixzz23B3VEieThttp://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2010/July%25202010/0710nato.aspxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Grant_(political_expert)http://twitya.com/r/http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/usa/2013/usa-130905-afns01.htmhttp://www.afgsc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123356798https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machinehttps://web.archive.org/web/20130509150840/http://defense-update.com/wp/20101119_b2_hte.htmlhttp://defense-update.com/wp/20101119_b2_hte.htmlhttp://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw090724_2_n.shtmlhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/UPGR12308.xml&headline=USAF%2520Awards%2520B-2%2520Radar%2520Upgrade%2520Production&channel=defensehttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/UPGR12308.xml&headline=USAF%2520Awards%2520B-2%2520Radar%2520Upgrade%2520Production&channel=defensehttp://archive.is/20120722220053/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123129776http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=135958http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=135958http://www.semanticdesigns.com/Products/Services/NorthropGrummanB2.htmlhttp://www.semanticdesigns.com/Products/Services/NorthropGrummanB2.htmlhttp://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=145810http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=145810http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=145810https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/970623-b2.htmhttps://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/970623-b2.htmhttp://www.factcheck.org/zell_millers_attack_on_kerry_a_little.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#CITEREFSorenson1995http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/14/us/key-senate-backer-of-stealth-bomber-sees-it-in-jeopardy.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/14/us/key-senate-backer-of-stealth-bomber-sees-it-in-jeopardy.html?pagewanted=1

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    14   11 REFERENCES 

    [84] Kristensen, Hans M. (22 April 2013).   “B-2 StealthBomber To Carry New Nuclear Cruise Missile”.   FAS Strategic Security Blog. Federation of American Scien-tists. Retrieved 22 April 2013.

    [85]   Inside the Stealth Bomber . p. 57. Retrieved 2015-02-04.

    [86]  Sweetman 2005, p. 73

    [87]  Siuru 1993, p. 118

    [88]   AIR WARFARE .  Google Books   (ABC-CLIO, Inc). Re-trieved 2015-02-04.

    [89] Page, Lewis. “Upgrade drags Stealth Bomber IT systemsinto the 90s.” The Register , 11 July 2008.

    [90] Jane’s Aircraft Upgrades 2003, p. 1711f

    [91]  “AN/APQ-181 Radar System.”  Raytheon. Retrieved: 11August 2012.

    [92] Moir and Seabridge 2008, p. 397.

    [93] Moir and Seabridge 2008, pp. 256–258.

    [94]  “Flight Control Actuation System Integrator for the B-2Spirit.” Moog, Retrieved: 11 August 2012.

    [95]  Chudoba 2001, p. 76

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