After one B-2 stealth bomber made an emergency landing earlier this month and then caught fire, the US Air Force temporarily grounded the whole fleet of B-2s.
All aircraft will be inspected throughout the B-2 stealth bomber squadron’s shutdown, The B-2 stealth bomber won’t be flying over football fields during this period. In 2023, both the Rose Bowl game and the Rose Parade were planned to feature the B-2. Bombers from the B-1 Lancer squadron will now take its position.
A B-2 bomber crashed on December 10 while in flight, necessitating an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, which happened earlier. The aircraft then started to burn. As a result of the fire’s suppression, no one was hurt. The B-2 Spirit aircraft “experienced a difficulty during routine operations,” according to a brief statement from the 509th bomber unit at Whiteman Air Force Base, and was required to make an emergency landing.
There have been 21 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers constructed by the US, one of which was entirely destroyed in an accident over Guam in 2008. In 2010, a ground fire severely destroyed a different jet as well, but it was restored and put back in service after paying a steep price. This component of the trio of US nuclear deterrence weapons is crucial.
The US frequently sends B-2s to the Indo-Pacific region and, more recently, to Europe to show off its might. The B-2 Spirit is a strategic bomber that the US first introduced in 1988. It is also the most expensive aircraft ever built. A B-2 back then cost 515 million USD, which is equivalent to 1.06 billion USD now.
Each Spirit will cost up to 2.1 billion USD, including R&D expenses. Due to its capacity to be radar-invisible to adversaries, the B-2 series serves as the centrepiece of all American pre-emptive attacks. In terms of producing stealth aircraft in general and stealth strategic bombers in particular, the US remains the industry leader.
The B-2 Spirit is still the most expensive, distinctive, and potent stealth bomber in existence today. With a distinctive aerodynamic shape that enables them to pierce far into hostile airspace undetected, birds served as the inspiration for the design of the B-2 Spirit aircraft. The Americans have been successful in incorporating synthetic components, most notably carbon fibre, into the wing material to produce a fighter with a high mechanical strength.
80 percent of the B-2 Spirit’s components are synthetic, primarily carbon fibre. Aluminum and titanium make up the inner frame, which connects to the body and houses the biggest fuel tank. In addition to making the B-2 Spirit lighter, the composite material is a particularly effective radar absorber, making the bomber invisible to enemy radars. A B-2 Spirit strategic bomber with a “one-piece fuselage” that does not require a tail was created by the armaments maker Northrop Grumman.
There is no fuselage in this design; instead, it consists of two sizable wings that are linked in the middle by a hollow structure that houses the electronics and the control cabin. However, according to speculation, the B-2 has no fuselage at all. The only components listed in the maintenance manuals for the B-2 are the control panel, bomb bay, and two wings.
The B-2 was unable to balance horizontally with the fuselage without the tail wing. A balance pendulum was incorporated into the body of the B-2 by the design engineers to address this issue. The B-2 Spirit is referred to as the “ghost in the sky” because of its huge bomb load and exceptional stealth skills, which allow it to hit deeply inland while piercing modern air defence systems.
An air flow mixer is installed in the B-2 engine to bring cool air into the combustion chamber and turbine, decreasing ambient temperature. The infrared signal is greatly diminished by the engine propeller’s deep fuselage location. This precaution is used to counter hostile infrared weapons that may locate aircraft by monitoring engine heat signals.
The B-2 has four F118-GE-100 turbofan engines that let it to fly at 1,010 km/h, cover a distance of 10,400 km, and soar to a height of 15,000 metres. The AN/APQ-81 passive electronic phased array radar system, which provides targeting mode and helps the B-2 follow and avoid terrain, is one of the advanced avionics technologies included in the B-2. Other advanced avionics technologies include an electronic retaliatory response system and an aviation navigation system.
Clearly an American weaponry marvel, the B-2 Spirit has amazing specifications. B-2 Spirit has performed admirably in a large number of bombing sorties into hostile territory since it entered service.
