B2 Bomber – US Nuclear Stealth Bombers!
B-2 Spirit is a multi-role stealth heavy bomber, capable of deploying both conventional and nuclear weapons. It is operated exclusively by the United States Air Force.
In the 1970s, the U.S. military wanted a replacement for the aging (old) B-52 bomber. They needed a plane that could carry nuclear bombs across the globe, to the Soviet Union, in only a few hours. And they wanted it to be nearly invisible to enemy sensors (radar).
Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The B-2 is a low-observable, strategic, very long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated & dense air-defence shields. It is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000ft, with a range of more than 6,000nm unrefuelled and over 10,000nm with one refuelling, giving it the ability to fly to any point in the world within hours. Looks “like an insect” to radar scanners!
The craft is also revolutionary from an aeronautics perspective: It doesn’t have any of the standard stabilizing systems you find on a conventional airplane, but pilots say it flies as smoothly as a fighter jet.
WEAPONS
The aircraft carries all its weapons internally and is fitted with 2 separate weapons bays in the centre of the aircraft. The B-2 has the capacity to carry up to 18100 Kilograms of weapons, including conventional and nuclear weapons, precision-guided munitions, gravity bombs and a range of maritime weapons.
Each weapons bay is equipped with a rotary launcher and two bomb-rack assemblies. In tests, the B-2 successfully released B-61 and B-83 nuclear and Mk 84 conventional bombs from the rotary rocket launcher, and Mk-82 & CBU-87 conventional weapons from the bomb racks. The B61-11 is an earth-penetrating nuclear bomb for use against deeply buried and hardened targets. The B83 is a strategic free-fall nuclear bomb. The B-2 can carry the AGM-129 advanced cruise missile, which is a strategic cruise missile with a range estimated at up to 1,500 miles.
( science.howstuffworks , airforce-technology)
B-2 Stealth VIDEO
Video Desc: Spirit of Pennsylvania dedicated at Willow Grove Naval Base. Dedicated in 2003.
Info: B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber flyover at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends at Rickenbacker Airport Columbus, Ohio 9/29/2007.
Info: Spirit of Pennsylvania dedicated at Willow Grove Naval Base. Dedicated in 2003.
