The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy penetration strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense antiaircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb (230 kg)class (Mk 82) JDAM Global Positioning Systemguided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs. The B2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large airtosurface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.

Development originally started under the "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) project during the Carter administration; its expected performance was one of his reasons for the cancellation of the supersonic B1A bomber. The ATB project continued during the Reagan administration, but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the B1 program as well. Program costs rose throughout development. Designed and manufactured by Northrop, later Northrop Grumman, the cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million (in 1997 dollars).Total procurement costs averaged $929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. The total program cost including development, engineering and testing, averaged $2.1 billion per aircraft in 1997.

The B2 is capable of allaltitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) with one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a nuclear bomber, the B2 was first used in combat, dropping conventional, nonnuclear ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It later served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Video Credits: U.S. Air Force | United States Department of Defense

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