What to know about the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber used against Iran’s nuclear sites
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What to know about the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber used against Iran’s nuclear sites
The U.S. has used its B-2s in seven wars, including the Iran attack on Saturday. The stealth bomber began as a closely guarded secret in the 1970s. The first bomber rolled out of the hangar at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., in November of 1988. It took off on its first flight the following July. Being inside one is bit like being on an ‘alien spacecraft,’ one expert says. The aircraft is 69-feet long, 17-feet high and has a wingspan stretching half the length of a football field. It can fly 6,000 nautical miles without refuelling, and can carry 20 tonnes of explosives and weapons. It is the ultimate chess piece of U.s. war plans because it combines stealth, range, and a diverse and enormous payload (20 tonnes), an analyst says. It was designed to counter the old Russian radar systems that are still the standard in the world, Dr. Grant says, but the B2 is more advanced.
It was a sneaky and surgical strike: a massive show of force with a weapon that remains the envy of military powers around the world.
On the weekend, the United States attacked nuclear sites deep underground in the remote mountains of north-central Iran. It began when the U.S. Air Force launched a group of B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and sent them westward across the Pacific Ocean.
That, it turns out, was a ruse. While global attention turned to those planes, a separate squad of B-2s was sent eastward. Backed by smaller jet fighters, midair refuelling tankers and a submarine that fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from its position in the Arabian Sea, seven B-2s would eventually drop their 13-tonne bunker-buster bombs for the first time in combat.
Pentagon officials sketched out the details of the mission, nicknamed “Midnight Hammer,” in a briefing Sunday. It is the biggest-ever deployment of B-2 stealth bombers in the aircraft’s 30-plus year history, and it might usher in a new era of conflict in the Middle East.
The stealth bomber’s origins
The B-2 bomber began as a closely guarded secret. In the 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense launched a highly classified program aimed at developing a new aircraft that could avoid being detected by enemy radar. While the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a period of détente in their Cold War, both powers were secretly building up their military capabilities.
Military contractor Northrop was contracted to produce a design and came up with Tacit Blue. It’s an experimental battlefield plane whose innovations – such as minimizing the heat signature emitting from the engines to mask its presence – laid the groundwork for the development of the B-2 Spirit. Tacit Blue proved that such an aircraft could “loiter over and behind the battlefield,” without fear of being discovered by enemy radar, according the manufacturer, today known as Northrop Grumman.
To bring the B-2 to life, Northrop had to invent all its components from scratch, including tooling, a software laboratory and composite materials. The first bomber rolled out of the hangar at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., in November of 1988. It took off on its first flight the following July.
“She exuded power,” said Christopher Hernandez, Northrop’s B-2 project manager, in a video on the company’s website. “You just look at her and you knew: gamechanger.”
Open this photo in gallery: B-2s have muffled engines and a wingspan stretching half the length of a football field. Being inside one is bit like being on an ‘alien spacecraft,’ one expert says.David Smith/The Associated Press
Its capabilities
The B-2 is 69-feet long, 17-feet high and has a wingspan stretching half the length of a football field. It is the ultimate chess piece of U.S. war plans because it combines stealth, range (it can fly 6,000 nautical miles without refuelling), and a diverse and enormous payload (20 tonnes), according to Rebecca Grant, a Washington-based national security analyst with IRIS Independent Research, who has written extensively on the aircraft.
Most of the aircraft’s so-called “low observability” comes from its flat, wing-like shape. With a typical commercial airliner, the radar waves bounce back, and the air traffic controller can see where the point of contact is with the plane, Dr. Grant said in an interview Sunday. With the B-2, the radar waves “go off in a different direction and you don’t get any radar return,” she said.
B-2 stealth bombers have significant tactical flexibility. They can be dispatched to strike fixed or mobile targets at multiple sites, according to Dr. Grant. They can bomb, wait for several hours on patrol or refuelling, and circle back to hit more targets. They can also get up close with heavy, penetrating weapons to smash through underground bunkers and tunnels – exactly what they did in Iran.
Its design
Military technology has advanced across the world, but the B-2 design remains effective in modern warfare. That’s chiefly because the type of old Russian radar systems that the bomber was designed to counter are still the standard, Dr. Grant said. Iran has them, as does Russia and China.
Meanwhile, the bomber itself has been steadily upgraded over the past two decades. The exterior surfaces, wiring, sensors and weapon control systems have all been improved so that the aircraft can mesh with other military equipment and keeps its tactics dominant, according to the researcher.
“Radar is still the name of the game, and the B-2 is still the master,” Dr. Grant said.
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Its operational history
The B-2 has gone to war seven times, including the most recent Iran attack. It was first deployed over Kosovo and Serbia in 1999, as part of NATO’s campaign. It was then used in Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011. It was again used against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda targets in 2017.
The U.S. also flew them last October for precision strikes against underground weapons storage locations in Houthi rebel-controlled areas of Yemen. Lloyd Austin, who was then defense secretary, said at the time that using the bombers “demonstrate U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”
B-2 pilots have trained to fly missions as long as 72 hours, according to Dr. Grant. Two pilots make up the crew and although there is no real room to walk around, there’s just enough space in the cockpit to set up a makeshift cot or lawn chair during downtime.
The U.S. initially planned to have a fleet of 132 B-2s but later cut the number to just 21, of which 19 remain flying today. A 1997 report by the US General Accounting Office stated that the total cost to acquire the bombers was estimated at US$44.8-billion, or about US$2-billion per plane.
“Well worth it,” said Dr. Grant. The seven B-2s could accomplish a mission in Iran that would have otherwise taken weeks and weeks to attempt to complete, she said. “Israel did a lot. But they weren’t able to get after that target.”
What they’re like inside
Otherworldly, Dr. Grant said, who’s been inside during a flight.
“It’s the most unusual aircraft because there’s no fuselage. So when you look out the front, it’s just a big flying wing. And the cockpit canopy is a little bit gold-tinged. And then there’s all these screens and dials and scopes,” she said.
Dr. Grant added: “It’s very, very quiet. You don’t hear anything because the engines are so muffled. It is a little bit like an alien spacecraft.”
Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-what-to-know-us-b-2-stealth-bomber/