B-2 Spirit
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The B-2 Spirit, made by Northrop Grumman, is an American multi-role stealth bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear weapons. A dramatic leap forward in technology, the bomber represented a major milestone in the U.S. bomber modernization program. The B-2 is the most expensive plane ever built. Estimates for the costs per plane range from $1.157 billion USD [1] to $2.2 billion [2]. Its stealth technology is intended to help it penetrate defenses previously impenetrable by combat aircraft. The original procurement of 135 aircraft was later reduced to 75 in the late 1980s. Finally, President George H. W. Bush reduced the final buy quantity to the 21 already bought in his now famous "New World Order" State of the Union speech, January 1991.
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Features
Image:B2 spirit.jpg Along with the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1B, the U.S. military contends that the B-2 provides the penetrating flexibility and effectiveness inherent in manned bombers. Its low-observable, or "stealth," characteristics give it the ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended targets. Its capability to thwart air defenses and threaten effective retaliation should provide a strong, effective deterrent and serious combat force well into the 21st century.
The revolutionary blending of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large payload gives the B-2 important advantages over previous bombers. Its traveling range is approximately 6,000 nautical miles (11,100 km) without refueling. Also, its low-observation ability provides the B-2 greater freedom of action at high altitudes, thus increasing its range and a better field of view for the aircraft's sensors. With its GPS Aided Targeting System (GATS) combined with GPS-aided munitions such as Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), it can use its APQ-181 radar to correct GPS errors of targets and gain much better than laser-guided weapon accuracy with "dumb" gravity bombs with a GPS-aided "smart" guidance tail kit attached. It can destroy 16 targets in a single pass.
The B-2's stealth characteristics are derived from a combination of reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual, and radar signatures, making it difficult for defensive systems to detect, track and engage. Many aspects of the low-observability process remain classified; however, the B-2's composite materials, special coatings, and flying wing design all contribute to its "stealthiness."
The B-2 has a crew of two pilots, a pilot in the left seat and mission commander in the right, compared to the B-1B's crew of four and the B-52's crew of five.
History
The B-2 started life as a "black program" known as the High Altitude Penetrating Bomber (HAPB), it then became the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) and used the project code word Senior Cejay, it later became the B-2 Spirit. An estimated 23 billion dollars was secretly spent for research and development on the B-2 in the 1980s. An additional cost driver was that the mission was changed in 1985 from a high altitude bomber to a low altitude penetrating bomber, which required a major redesign. Because the development of the B-2 was one of the best kept secrets of all USAF programs, there was no opportunity for public criticism of its massive cost during the development process. The first B-2 was publicly displayed on November 22, 1988, when it was rolled out of its hangar at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it was manufactured. Its first flight was on July 17, 1989. The B-2 Combined Test Force, Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, is responsible for flight testing the engineering, manufacturing and development aircraft.
The first aircraft, named Spirit of Missouri, was delivered on December 17, 1993. Depot maintenance responsibility for the B-2 is held by Air Force contractor support and is managed at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
The prime contractor, responsible for overall system design and integration, is Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Hughes Aircraft (now Raytheon), General Electric Aircraft Engines and Vought Aircraft Industries, are key members of the aircraft contractor team. Another major contractor, responsible for aircrew training devices (weapon system trainer and mission trainer) is Link Simulation & Training, a division of L-3 Communications formerly Hughes Training Inc. (HTI). [3] Link Division, formerly known as CAE - Link Flight Simulation Corp. Link Simulation & Training is responsible for developing and integrating all aircrew and maintenance training programs. The military contractors for the B-2 engaged in massive lobbying campaigns to gain Congressional support for its funding.
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri was the B-2's only operational base until early 2003, when facilities for the B-2 were constructed on the joint U.S./U.K. military base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, followed by deployment to Guam in 2005. Facilities for the aircraft have also been constructed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom.
Questions remain over the ongoing and escalating cost of the program [4]. Some writers have suggested that the huge program cost may actually include costs for other black projects that remain classified. The high per-unit cost may also be partially explained by the small number of planes produced coupled with a large research overhead in the B-2 program.
These bombers were originally designed to deliver nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and support for them dwindled as military spending declined. In May of 1995, in a study commissioned by Congress, the Institute For Defense Analysis concluded that after the demise of the Soviet Union, there was no need for more B-2s.
Units using the B-2
United States Air Force
Combat
Image:B-2 Spirit Night 2.JPG The B-2 was derided by many as being too expensive to risk in combat. However, the aircraft has seen service in three separate campaigns.
Its first combat was during the Kosovo War in 1999. The aircraft performed well, and it introduced the satellite guided JDAM bomb to the world as well. Since then the aircraft has seen combat over Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The missions to Afghanistan saw a first for the aircraft. After flying bombing missions over Afghanistan, the aircraft concerned landed at Diego Garcia, were refueled and had a crew change before launching on another combat mission. This was taken a step further during the Iraq campaign when B-2s were actually based at Diego Garcia.
Later missions to Iraq were launched and returned to Whiteman AFB in Missouri. This resulted in missions lasting over 30 hours and even one mission of over 50 hours. B-2 crews have been used to pioneer sleep cycle research to improve combat crew performance over extended periods.
In the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report it noted that the B-2's overall mission capable rate for FY03 was still short of original requirements, primarily due to maintenance of the B-2's Low Observable materials. It also noted that the Defensive Avionics suite also had shortcomings in warning of pop-up threats. Despite these problems the B-2 maintained a high mission-capable state for Operation Iraqi Freedom, dropping 583 JDAMs during the conflict. [5]
Trivia
- Weighing in at 71,668 kg (2,300,000 troy ounces), each B-2 cost over $950.00 per troy ounce ($30/g) which is just under double its weight in gold.
- Most B-2s are named for states in the US, following the naming convention "Spirit of [state]." The two exceptions are "Spirit of America" (AV-1) and "Spirit of Kitty Hawk" (AV-19).
- The B-2 simulator at Whiteman AFB has been dubbed "Spirit of Hell" by students who have endured marathon training sessions in it.
- The B-2 bomber has a piece of it made in every state of the United States (Why We Fight video).
- The mathematical model needed to calculate the angles of stealthplanes such as F-117 and B-2 was ironically developed by Russian scientist Pyotr Ufimtsev during the cold war.
Specifications (B-2A: block 30)
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List of B-2 Bombers
| Designation | Tail # | Formal name | Informal names |
|---|---|---|---|
| AV-1 | 82-1066 | Spirit of America | Fatal Beauty |
| AV-2 | 82-1067 | Spirit of Arizona | Ship From Hell, Murphy's Law |
| AV-3 | 82-1068 | Spirit of New York | Navigator, Ghost, Afternoon Delight |
| AV-4 | 82-1069 | Spirit of Indiana | Christine, Armageddon Express |
| AV-5 | 82-1070 | Spirit of Ohio | Fire and Ice, Toad |
| AV-6 | 82-1071 | Spirit of Mississippi | Black Widow, Penguin, Arnold the Pig |
| AV-7 | 88-0328 | Spirit of Texas | Pirate Ship |
| AV-8 | 88-0329 | Spirit of Missouri | |
| AV-9 | 88-0330 | Spirit of California | |
| AV-10 | 88-0331 | Spirit of South Carolina | |
| AV-11 | 88-0332 | Spirit of Washington | |
| AV-12 | 89-0127 | Spirit of Kansas | |
| AV-13 | 89-0128 | Spirit of Nebraska | |
| AV-14 | 89-0129 | Spirit of Georgia | |
| AV-15 | 90-0040 | Spirit of Alaska | |
| AV-16 | 90-0041 | Spirit of Hawaii | |
| AV-17 | 92-0700 | Spirit of Florida | |
| AV-18 | 93-1085 | Spirit of Oklahoma | |
| AV-19 | 93-1086 | Spirit of Kitty Hawk | |
| AV-20 | 93-1087 | Spirit of Pennsylvania | |
| AV-21 | 93-1088 | Spirit of Lousiana | |
| AV-22 – AV-165 | cancelled |
References
- CNN - B-2 stealth bombers make combat debut - March 24, 1999
- FAS - B-2 Spirit - United States Nuclear Forces
- Air Force Link - Fact Sheet : B-2 Spirit
External links
- Home of America´s Bomber - The B-2 Spirit of Whiteman Air Force Base
- B-2 Spirit - Northrop Grumman
- Pentagon Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report
- Globalsecurity.org profile of the B-2 Spirit
- B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber
Related content
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