B 2 Spirit Stealth Bomber in Action, Training

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 develo