The Forbidden Science Behind the B-2 Spirit and Its Real Invisibility
Video from the channel Zona Cero and Distrito Zeta about Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 15:18. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
An explainer look at the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber focused on how it achieves its low detectability, its operational history and its role as an instrument of strategic deterrence.
Historical context
The video starts with Jack Northrop's flying wings of the 1940s, such as the YB-49, a program that ended with the aircraft being destroyed. Decades later, fly-by-wire control made the concept viable. 132 aircraft were originally planned, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 only 21 were built. Its combat debut came in Kosovo in 1999, a campaign in which a B-2 mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. It later operated in Afghanistan, in Iraq in 2003 and in Libya in 2011. In 2008 the Spirit of Kansas crashed on takeoff in Guam after moisture skewed readings from three pressure sensors; both pilots ejected.
Key facts
Unlike the flat facets of the F-117 Nighthawk, the B-2 relies on continuous curvature and radar-absorbent coatings that are delicate to maintain: nearly 60 hours of work for every hour of flight. It carries four General Electric F118 turbofans housed inside the wing, drag rudders at the wingtips and fly-by-wire control. It operates out of Whiteman, in Missouri, with two crew members on missions lasting over 40 hours. It can carry 80 500-pound JDAM bombs or the GBU-57 MOP. Its successor is the B-21 Raider, of which the Air Force plans to buy at least 100 units.