Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is an American strategic bomber. It is designed to get through many anti-aircraft defenses. It can drop both conventional and nuclear bombs. Up to 80 -class JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen  B83 nuclear bombs, can be dropped by such bombers.

Overview 


The bomber was designed as an "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) under the Carter government. The development continued under the Reagan government. The bomber is made by Northrop Grumman. Each aircraft cost US$737 million (in 1997 dollars)."B-2 Bomber: Cost and Operational Issues Letter Report, 14 August 1997, GAO/NSIAD-97-181."  United States General Accounting Office (GAO). Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

Operations


The B-2 bombers was first used against Serbia in the 1999 Kosovo War, later in the Iraq War."B-2 Spirit Fact Sheet." U.S. Air Force, April 2008. Retrieved: 6 July 2008. In 2023, it landed for the first time in Europe – leaving Norway after training with NATO forces.https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/lander-northrop-b-2-spirit-i-norge-1.16533803. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 2023-08-30

Operation Midnight Hammer


In the early morning of June 22, 2025, seven USAF B-2 bombers conducted the "Operation Midnight Hammer" to bomb Iran's Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. They dropped 30,000 pounds of bunker busters, followed by two Tomahawk missile strikes on the Isfahan nuclear site, marking the first use of such bombs and the largest B-2 bomber mission in history ‒ involving 125 aircraft when fighter jets and refueling planes are counted in. Trump said that the Iranian nuclear sites had been "completely and totally obliterated". 






Issues 

The bomber is reportedly expensive, sparking controversies in the U.S. Congress, which initially wanted 132 bombers, but reduced it to 21 in the 1990s. In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff. The crew got out safely.Rolfsen, Bruce. "Moisture confused sensors in B-2 crash." Air Force Times, 9 June 2008. Retrieved: 13 September 2009. 20 B-2s are being used by the United States Air Force. 

References

Category:United States Air Force aircraft