A Brief History
On February 23, 2008, a US Air Force B-2 “Spirit” bomber crashed while attempting a take-off on the runway at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The stealth jet bomber was totally destroyed, but the 2 man crew safely ejected. The B-2 bomber is far and away the most expensive airplane ever built, costing somewhere between $1 billion and $2.1 billion apiece, depending on how you account for the price per aircraft.
Digging Deeper
The most modern bomber in the world, and the only large “stealth” aircraft, the Northrup Grumman B-2 is not all that new, having been planned as far back as the Jimmy Carter administration! The B-2 that was lost in the crash, nick-named Spirit ofKansas, was a veteran bomber and had over 5000 flight hours on its airframe. After the crash, the entire fleet of B-2 bombers was grounded for 53 days pending investigation into the crash. The cause of the crash was found to be moisture in sensors that gave the flight computers incorrect information.
Another B-2 accident occurred in February (apparently a bad month for B-2’s!) of 2010 when a bomber caught fire on the ground and sustained extensive damage, though the plane was eventually repaired (also at Andersen AFB).
The B-2 is a “flying wing” type of jet bomber, and development of such a sophisticated platform took longer and more money than originally planned. The first operational B-2 was delivered in 1993, but the fleet was not combat operational until 1997. First combat use of the B-2 took place in Kosovo (the old Yugoslavia) in 1999 and the bombers have seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other terrorist havens such as Libya. (A B-2 “accidentally” bombed the Chinese embassy in Kosovo in 1999!)
Although the capabilities of the B-2 are remarkable, able to fly anywhere in the world undetected and drop a considerable load of “smart bombs” (50,000 pounds of bombs is probably the max load), the enormous expense means other programs have to suffer a lack of funding. Critics point out that older platforms (B-52) or simpler aircraft can fly close enough to launch cruise missiles and the enormous capacity and stealth capability of the B-2 is not necessary. There is always a certain satisfaction in knowing you have the best platform for a given task in the world, whether it is absolutely necessary or not. The decision whether or not to build and field a weapon system as expensive as the B-2 is complicated and must be decided jointly with what other weapons systems you may or may not choose to build.
The B-2 looks like it does mainly for the purpose of defeating detection by enemy radar (stealth), as well as reducing the infrared signature of the plane. The flying wing layout with no tail is critical to achieving the stealth characteristics sought, but these make for a highly unstable and not particularly aerodynamic platform. The B-2 flies because input by the pilot is channeled through computers and the computers decide what corrections to make to achieve what the pilot wants to do. Without computer control, the B-2 could not fly simply by being piloted by a human. The various sensors located all over the aircraft are a vital part of this equation, and any malfunction with any of those sensors can have catastrophic consequences such as that which caused the crash of The Spirit of Kansas.
The performance of the B-2 seems mundane without its stealth factor. Capable of 630 miles per hour and a ceiling of 50,000 feet, the unrefueled range of 6000 miles is excellent, and refueling in the air gives the B-2 global reach. Only 69 feet long, the wing span is 172 feet, and the maximum loaded weight is 376,000 pounds, of which a whopping 167,000 pounds is fuel. Only 21 of these mega-expensive bombers have been built, and although upgrades have been installed on the B-2 fleet, it is unknown what plans may be in place to replace these jets as they are retired. Perhaps the new F-35 stealth fighters will take over the high value penetration role, or the “Next-generation bomber” program (projected to be 175 medium bombers) may produce a replacement. Perhaps the only reasonable replacement will be an unmanned version of a stealth bomber. These decisions may already be made, but of course for security reasons are not yet public. Any of these solutions are guaranteed to be expensive!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Do you believe the enormous price tag of the B-2 Spirit is worth the resultant performance capability? Should we make such mind boggling expensive airplanes, or should we strive for a platform that is capable “enough” at a fraction of the cost? Or do we need the best cutting edge technology regardless of the price? What are your opinions on the B-2 and other highly expensive weapon systems?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Holder, Bill. Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit: An Illustrated History (Schiffer Military/Aviation History). Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1998.
Scott, Bill. Inside the Stealth Bomber: The B-2 Story. Aero Publishers, 1991.
