Nuggy
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Link-16 – Providing Line-of-Sight (LOS) data for aircraft-to-aircraft, aircraft-to-C2, and aircraft-to-sensor connectivity, Link-16 is a combat force multiplier that provides U.S. and other allied military services with fully interoperable capabilities and greatly enhances tactical Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence mission effectiveness. Link-16 provides increased survivability, develops a real-time picture of the theater battlespace, and enables the aircraft to quickly share information on short notice (target changes).
Connectivity – DoD requires survivable communications media for command and control of nuclear forces. To satisfy the requirement, the Air Force plans to deploy an advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) satellite communications constellation. This constellation will provide a survivable, high capability communication system. Based on favorable results from a funded risk reduction study, the B-2 will integrate an EHF communication capability satisfying connectivity requirements.
Digital Engine Controller - The current analog engine controllers are high failure items, and without funding, ACC will be forced to ground aircraft beginning approximately FY08. Replacement of the engine controllers will improve the B-2’s performance and increase supportability, reliability, and maintainability. Computers/Processors - With advances in computer technology and increased demands on the system, the B-2’s computers will need to be replaced with state-of-the-art processors. Although reliable, maintaining the present processors will become increasingly difficult and costly.
Signature Improvements - The B-2’s signature meets operational requirements against today’s threats. As advanced threats proliferate, it will be prudent to investigate advanced signature reduction concepts and determine if it is necessary to improve the B-2’s low observable signature. CANDIDATE LONG TERM UPGRADES BEYOND FY 15 TOTAL The basis for the useful life of the B-2 includes data from initial Developmental Test and Evaluation analysis. Data indicates the aircraft should be structurally sound to approximately 40,000 flight hours using current mission profiles. Analysis further suggests that the rudder attachment points are the first structural failure item. The B-2 has not implemented an ASIP similar to the other bombers, and this makes it difficult to predict the economic service life and attrition rate. However, a notional projection, based on the B-52, predicts one aircraft will be lost each 10 years. This attrition rate, plus attrition due to service life, will erode the B-2 force below its requirement of 19 aircraft by 2027.
Tactical delivery tactics use patterns and techniques that minimize final flight path predictability, yet allows sufficient time for accurate weapons delivery. For conventional munitions. Bomb Rack Assembly (BRA) weapons delivery accuracies depend on delivery altitude. For a weapons pass made at 5,000 ft above ground level [AGL] or below, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 300 feet. For a weapons pass made above 5,000 feetAGL, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 500 feet. Similarly, Rotary Launcher Assembly (RLA) delivery of conventional or nuclear weapons (i.e. Mk-84, B-83, B-61) is altitude dependent. For a weapons pass made at 5,000 feet AGL or below, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 300 feet. For a weapons pass made above 5,000 ft AGL, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 500 feet. The hit criteria for a weapons pass made with GAM/ JDAM munitions is less than or equal to 50 feet.
B-2 Image Gallery
Specifications
Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber.
Prime Contractor: Northrop Grumman Corp.
Contractor Team: Boeing Military Airplanes Co.,
General Electric Aircraft Engine Group
Hughes Training Inc., Link Division
Power Plant/Manufacturer: Four General Electric F-118-GE-100 engines
Thrust: 17,300 pounds each engine (7,847 kilograms)
Length: 69 feet (20.9 meters)
Height: 17 feet (5.1 meters)
Wingspan: 172 feet (52.12 meters)
Speed: High subsonic
Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,152 meters)
Takeoff Weight (Typical): 336,500 pounds (152,635 kilograms)
Range: Intercontinental, unrefueled
Armament: NUCLEAR
16 B61
16 B83
16 AGM-129 ACM
16 AGM-131 SRAM 2 CONVENTIONAL
80 MK82
16 MK84
36 CBU87
36 CBU89
36 CBU97
PRECISION
8 GBU 27
12 JDAM
8 AGM-154 JSOW
8 AGM-137 TSSAM
Payload: 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms)
Crew: Two pilots
Unit cost: Approximately $2.1 billion [average]
Date Deployed: December 1993
Inventory: Active force: 21 (planned operational aircraft); ANG: 0; Reserve: 0
Air
Vehicle Aircraft # Name[*] Ordered Delivered
to USAF Arrived
Whiteman
AV- 1 82-1066 Fatal Beauty n/a 17 Jul 89
AV- 2 82-1067 Spirit of ARIZONA
Ship From Hell
[Murphy's Law] n/a 19 Oct 90 20 Mar 98
AV- 3 82-1068 Spirit of NEW YORK
Navigator / Ghost
[Afternoon Delight] n/a 18 Jun 91 10 Oct 97
AV- 4 82-1069 Spirit of INDIANA
Christine n/a 02 Oct 92 22 May 99
AV- 5 82-1070 Spirit of OHIO
Fire and Ice [Toad] n/a 05 Oct 92 18 Jul 97
AV- 6 TOV&V 82-1071 Spirit of MISSISSIPPI
Black Widow / Penguin
[Arnold the Pig] n/a 02 Feb 93 23 May 98
AV- 7 88-0328 Spirit of TEXAS
Pirate Ship 1987 29 Aug 94 31 Aug 94
AV- 8 88-0329 Spirit of MISSOURI 1987 11 Dec 93 17 Dec 93
AV- 9 88-0330 Spirit of CALIFORNIA 1988 16 Aug 94 17 Aug 94
AV-10 88-0331 Spirit of S. CAROLINA 1988 29 Dec 94 30 Dec 94
AV-11 88-0332 Spirit of WASHINGTON 1989 27 Oct 94 30 Oct 94
AV-12 89-0127 Spirit of KANSAS 1989 16 Feb 95 17 Feb 95
AV-13 89-0128 Spirit of NEBRASKA 1990 26 Jun 95 28 Jun 95
AV-14 89-0129 Spirit of GEORGIA 1990 25 Sep 95 14 Nov 95
AV-15 90-0040 Spirit of ALASKA 1991 12 Jan 95 24 Jan 96
AV-16 90-0041 Spirit of HAWAII 1991 21 Dec 95 10 Jan 96
AV-17 92-0700 Spirit of FLORIDA 1992 29 Mar 96 3 Jul 96
AV-18 93-1085 Spirit of OKLAHOMA 1993 13 May 96 15 May 96
AV-19 93-1086 Spirit of KITTY HAWK 1993 30 Aug 96
AV-20 93-1087 Spirit of PENNSYLVANIA 1993 05 Aug 97
AV-21 93-1088 Spirit of LOUISIANA 1993 10 Nov 97
AV-22-76 Cancelled
AV-77-133 Cancelled
AV-134-165 Cancelled
AIRCRAFT NAMES
Each stealth bomber has at least three designations. The Air Vehicle [AV] number [eg, AV-1], indicative of the aircraft's construction sequence within the stealth bomber program. The tail number [eg 82-1066] is part of the general Air Force numbering system in which the first two digits are the year in which the plane was authorized, and the last four digits are the aircraft's unique serial number. The planes also have both formal and informal names, which is an unusual [though increasingly common] practice. For a long time we had a bit of difficulty providing robust correlation among these three designation systems, since Whiteman AFB and Dave Hastings did't have their stories straight on Spirit of OHIO and Spirit of ARIZONA. While we think that we have finally gotten these ducks lined up, any additional corrections would be vastly appreciated.
Following the naval precedent in which battleships, and subsequently whatever ship the Navy regarded as its capital ship [currently ballistic missile submarines, but it was nuclear powered cruisers for a while] were named after states, operational B-2 aircraft are named after states, with the annoying exception of Spirit of KITTY HAWK. States so honored are generally those with a close association [operational, political, or otherwise] with the program. This would seem to place an upper limit of 50 on the number of aircraft that can eventually be expected to be produced, though one imagines that additional states can be admitted to the Union if the need arises.
Test aircraft have a somewhat less illustrious, and less definitive, naming system. Sources vary as to the names that have at times been used in connection with these airfraft, and we provide all names that have been reportedly associated with these vehicles [with the less certain names in [] parentheses]. As they enter operational service, these aircraft are given more dignified state names, as recently happened with AV-2 Spirit of OHIO.
Sources and Resources
NORTHROP GRUMMAN B-2 Spirit Website
B-2 SPIRIT AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED TO 509TH BOMB WING
Whiteman AFB News Releases
General Accounting Office Reports
David Hastings B-2 Spirit Page
Air Force Decisions and the B-2 IRIS Research Report December 1995
Stop Stealth Bomber Homepage
FY98 B-2 Budget Request
B-2 STEALTH PRIME CONTRACT AWARDS OVER $25,000 - FISCAL YEAR 1996
ANNEX F Common Solution/Concept List (U) Air Force Mission Area Plan (MAP) [as of 11 July 1997 - Rev 10] - Detailed and comprehensive Air Combat Command descriptions of weapon system modernization efforts required to satisfy known needs.
News and Views
THE FUTURE OF OUR STRATEGIC BOMBER FORCE Mr. DICKS -Congressional Record (House of Representatives - May 06, 1991)
When Should We Start High-Rate Production of the B-2? AN ANALYSIS BASED ON FLIGHT TEST RESULTS Congressional Record (Senate - August 02, 1991) STATEMENT OF MICHAEL D. RICH, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SECURITY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE)
B-2 BOMBER Mr. INOUYE Congressional Record (Senate - April 14, 1997)
Independent Bomber Force Review Brent Scowcroft -- We do not believe that the planned force of 21 B-2s will satisfy foreseeable U.S. military requirements. Pentagon opposition to further B-2 production is shortsighted and parochial.
The B-2's Stealthy Skins Need Tender, Lengthy Care (BY TONY CAPACCIO) Defense Week, May 27, 1997 -- Maintaining the $2.4 billion B-2 bomber's stealthy skins has proven so difficult that Air Force officials last October, directed six days of repair time be performed for every flying day, accordingly to test data made available to Defense Week.
Square Pegs and Round Holes: Air Force Doctrine and the B-2 Bomber Air Command and Staff College 1997 - What happens when we procure weapon systems based on obsolete doctrine? Worse yet, what happens when we build doctrine around existing resources designed from obsolete ideas?
The Heavy Bomber Industrial Base: A Study of Present and Future Capabilities James L. Barefield II; Anthony R. Williams (Faculty Advisor) Air Command and Staff College 1997
B-2. AIRCRAFT PROGRAM DELLUMS AMENDMENT - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998 (House of Representatives - June 23, 1997)
B-2 bombers deploying to Guam Released: Mar 17, 1998
LONG RANGE AIR POWER REVIEW PANEL CONCLUDES REVIEW March 20, 1998
Air Force dedicates B-2 to Arizona Released: Feb 12, 1998
B-2 successfully drops improved bunker buster bomb Released: Mar 26, 1998 -- A B-2 Spirit bomber dropped two B61-11 bomb shells to test their improved ground penetration capability March 17 at the Stuart Creek Impact Area, 35 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
Air power panel recommends B-2 improvements Released: Mar 24, 1998 WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- A group of former Air Force leaders, a senator and industry representatives recommend that funds for the B-2 bomber program be spent to improve bombers already flying, not to buy new aircraft.
REPORT OF THE PANEL TO REVIEW LONG RANGE AIR POWER 01 April 1998
Air Force dedicates latest B-2 to Mississippi : Apr 28, 1998 (AFNS) -- The U.S. Air Force will name the nation's newest B-2 Spirit stealth bomber the "Spirit of Mississippi" in a ceremony at the Air National Guard Base at Thompson Field, Jackson, Miss., May 23 at 11:00 a.m.
B-2 achieves 'consecutive miracle': May 19, 1998 (AFNS) -- The B-2 bomber Spirit of Louisiana dropped four 2,000 pound BLU-109 versions of the Joint Direct Attack Munition against three targets on the White Sands Missile Range April 28.
Whiteman B-2s in precautionary stand down : 6 Aug 1998
B-2 bombers resume flying operations : 11 Aug 1998
B-2 bombers back in the air Aug. 11, 1998 (ACCNS) - B-2 bombers resumed normal flying operations Aug. 10 after a temporary suspension of peacetime training missions.
B-2s, B-52s deploy to Guam Sept. 3, 1998 (ACCNS) - B-2 and B-52 bombers from Whiteman AFB, Mo., and Barksdale AFB, La., respectively, are deploying to Guam on a Global Power mission.
Bombers participate in Global Power missions in Pacific (ACCNS) Sept. 11, 1998 -- Three B-2s from Whiteman AFB, Mo., three B-52s from Barksdale AFB, La., and 269 support people deployed to Andersen Sept. 5 to participate in the training operations in the Pacific.
2nd Air Expeditionary Group bombers return home : 7 Oct 1998 - by Tech. Sgt. Howard Smith 2nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs -- Bombers from the 2nd Air Expeditionary Group -- three B-2 Spirits and three B-52H Stratofortresses -- completed their global power training mission Oct. 6.
Air Force White Paper on Long-Range Bombers 01 March 1999
Last Block 20 B-2 leaves Whiteman (AFPN) 8 Jan 1999 -- The Spirit of Oklahoma B-2 stealth bomber recently left Whiteman for the Northrop Grumman modification line in Palmdale, Calif. The stealth bomber is the first Block 20 B-2 delivered and now the last one to be upgraded to Block 30. Since their arrival, all but two B-2s were sent back for Block 30 modification.
Tinker B-2 experts solve problem affecting Allied Force mission Oklahoma Air Logistics Center Public Affairs (AFPN) 11 Jun 1999 -- The System Engineering Branch of the B-2 System Program Management Division here has solved a major problem affecting the B-2's mission effectiveness during Operation Allied Force. The actuator remote terminal, or ART, works the various control surfaces on the B-2. Without it, the wing cannot fly. Because of an airflow-cooling problem, the ART was one of the high-failure items on the B-2 bomber.
Connectivity – DoD requires survivable communications media for command and control of nuclear forces. To satisfy the requirement, the Air Force plans to deploy an advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) satellite communications constellation. This constellation will provide a survivable, high capability communication system. Based on favorable results from a funded risk reduction study, the B-2 will integrate an EHF communication capability satisfying connectivity requirements.
Digital Engine Controller - The current analog engine controllers are high failure items, and without funding, ACC will be forced to ground aircraft beginning approximately FY08. Replacement of the engine controllers will improve the B-2’s performance and increase supportability, reliability, and maintainability. Computers/Processors - With advances in computer technology and increased demands on the system, the B-2’s computers will need to be replaced with state-of-the-art processors. Although reliable, maintaining the present processors will become increasingly difficult and costly.
Signature Improvements - The B-2’s signature meets operational requirements against today’s threats. As advanced threats proliferate, it will be prudent to investigate advanced signature reduction concepts and determine if it is necessary to improve the B-2’s low observable signature. CANDIDATE LONG TERM UPGRADES BEYOND FY 15 TOTAL The basis for the useful life of the B-2 includes data from initial Developmental Test and Evaluation analysis. Data indicates the aircraft should be structurally sound to approximately 40,000 flight hours using current mission profiles. Analysis further suggests that the rudder attachment points are the first structural failure item. The B-2 has not implemented an ASIP similar to the other bombers, and this makes it difficult to predict the economic service life and attrition rate. However, a notional projection, based on the B-52, predicts one aircraft will be lost each 10 years. This attrition rate, plus attrition due to service life, will erode the B-2 force below its requirement of 19 aircraft by 2027.
Tactical delivery tactics use patterns and techniques that minimize final flight path predictability, yet allows sufficient time for accurate weapons delivery. For conventional munitions. Bomb Rack Assembly (BRA) weapons delivery accuracies depend on delivery altitude. For a weapons pass made at 5,000 ft above ground level [AGL] or below, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 300 feet. For a weapons pass made above 5,000 feetAGL, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 500 feet. Similarly, Rotary Launcher Assembly (RLA) delivery of conventional or nuclear weapons (i.e. Mk-84, B-83, B-61) is altitude dependent. For a weapons pass made at 5,000 feet AGL or below, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 300 feet. For a weapons pass made above 5,000 ft AGL, the hit criteria is less than or equal to 500 feet. The hit criteria for a weapons pass made with GAM/ JDAM munitions is less than or equal to 50 feet.
B-2 Image Gallery
Specifications
Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber.
Prime Contractor: Northrop Grumman Corp.
Contractor Team: Boeing Military Airplanes Co.,
General Electric Aircraft Engine Group
Hughes Training Inc., Link Division
Power Plant/Manufacturer: Four General Electric F-118-GE-100 engines
Thrust: 17,300 pounds each engine (7,847 kilograms)
Length: 69 feet (20.9 meters)
Height: 17 feet (5.1 meters)
Wingspan: 172 feet (52.12 meters)
Speed: High subsonic
Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,152 meters)
Takeoff Weight (Typical): 336,500 pounds (152,635 kilograms)
Range: Intercontinental, unrefueled
Armament: NUCLEAR
16 B61
16 B83
16 AGM-129 ACM
16 AGM-131 SRAM 2 CONVENTIONAL
80 MK82
16 MK84
36 CBU87
36 CBU89
36 CBU97
PRECISION
8 GBU 27
12 JDAM
8 AGM-154 JSOW
8 AGM-137 TSSAM
Payload: 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms)
Crew: Two pilots
Unit cost: Approximately $2.1 billion [average]
Date Deployed: December 1993
Inventory: Active force: 21 (planned operational aircraft); ANG: 0; Reserve: 0
Air
Vehicle Aircraft # Name[*] Ordered Delivered
to USAF Arrived
Whiteman
AV- 1 82-1066 Fatal Beauty n/a 17 Jul 89
AV- 2 82-1067 Spirit of ARIZONA
Ship From Hell
[Murphy's Law] n/a 19 Oct 90 20 Mar 98
AV- 3 82-1068 Spirit of NEW YORK
Navigator / Ghost
[Afternoon Delight] n/a 18 Jun 91 10 Oct 97
AV- 4 82-1069 Spirit of INDIANA
Christine n/a 02 Oct 92 22 May 99
AV- 5 82-1070 Spirit of OHIO
Fire and Ice [Toad] n/a 05 Oct 92 18 Jul 97
AV- 6 TOV&V 82-1071 Spirit of MISSISSIPPI
Black Widow / Penguin
[Arnold the Pig] n/a 02 Feb 93 23 May 98
AV- 7 88-0328 Spirit of TEXAS
Pirate Ship 1987 29 Aug 94 31 Aug 94
AV- 8 88-0329 Spirit of MISSOURI 1987 11 Dec 93 17 Dec 93
AV- 9 88-0330 Spirit of CALIFORNIA 1988 16 Aug 94 17 Aug 94
AV-10 88-0331 Spirit of S. CAROLINA 1988 29 Dec 94 30 Dec 94
AV-11 88-0332 Spirit of WASHINGTON 1989 27 Oct 94 30 Oct 94
AV-12 89-0127 Spirit of KANSAS 1989 16 Feb 95 17 Feb 95
AV-13 89-0128 Spirit of NEBRASKA 1990 26 Jun 95 28 Jun 95
AV-14 89-0129 Spirit of GEORGIA 1990 25 Sep 95 14 Nov 95
AV-15 90-0040 Spirit of ALASKA 1991 12 Jan 95 24 Jan 96
AV-16 90-0041 Spirit of HAWAII 1991 21 Dec 95 10 Jan 96
AV-17 92-0700 Spirit of FLORIDA 1992 29 Mar 96 3 Jul 96
AV-18 93-1085 Spirit of OKLAHOMA 1993 13 May 96 15 May 96
AV-19 93-1086 Spirit of KITTY HAWK 1993 30 Aug 96
AV-20 93-1087 Spirit of PENNSYLVANIA 1993 05 Aug 97
AV-21 93-1088 Spirit of LOUISIANA 1993 10 Nov 97
AV-22-76 Cancelled
AV-77-133 Cancelled
AV-134-165 Cancelled
AIRCRAFT NAMES
Each stealth bomber has at least three designations. The Air Vehicle [AV] number [eg, AV-1], indicative of the aircraft's construction sequence within the stealth bomber program. The tail number [eg 82-1066] is part of the general Air Force numbering system in which the first two digits are the year in which the plane was authorized, and the last four digits are the aircraft's unique serial number. The planes also have both formal and informal names, which is an unusual [though increasingly common] practice. For a long time we had a bit of difficulty providing robust correlation among these three designation systems, since Whiteman AFB and Dave Hastings did't have their stories straight on Spirit of OHIO and Spirit of ARIZONA. While we think that we have finally gotten these ducks lined up, any additional corrections would be vastly appreciated.
Following the naval precedent in which battleships, and subsequently whatever ship the Navy regarded as its capital ship [currently ballistic missile submarines, but it was nuclear powered cruisers for a while] were named after states, operational B-2 aircraft are named after states, with the annoying exception of Spirit of KITTY HAWK. States so honored are generally those with a close association [operational, political, or otherwise] with the program. This would seem to place an upper limit of 50 on the number of aircraft that can eventually be expected to be produced, though one imagines that additional states can be admitted to the Union if the need arises.
Test aircraft have a somewhat less illustrious, and less definitive, naming system. Sources vary as to the names that have at times been used in connection with these airfraft, and we provide all names that have been reportedly associated with these vehicles [with the less certain names in [] parentheses]. As they enter operational service, these aircraft are given more dignified state names, as recently happened with AV-2 Spirit of OHIO.
Sources and Resources
NORTHROP GRUMMAN B-2 Spirit Website
B-2 SPIRIT AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED TO 509TH BOMB WING
Whiteman AFB News Releases
General Accounting Office Reports
David Hastings B-2 Spirit Page
Air Force Decisions and the B-2 IRIS Research Report December 1995
Stop Stealth Bomber Homepage
FY98 B-2 Budget Request
B-2 STEALTH PRIME CONTRACT AWARDS OVER $25,000 - FISCAL YEAR 1996
ANNEX F Common Solution/Concept List (U) Air Force Mission Area Plan (MAP) [as of 11 July 1997 - Rev 10] - Detailed and comprehensive Air Combat Command descriptions of weapon system modernization efforts required to satisfy known needs.
News and Views
THE FUTURE OF OUR STRATEGIC BOMBER FORCE Mr. DICKS -Congressional Record (House of Representatives - May 06, 1991)
When Should We Start High-Rate Production of the B-2? AN ANALYSIS BASED ON FLIGHT TEST RESULTS Congressional Record (Senate - August 02, 1991) STATEMENT OF MICHAEL D. RICH, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SECURITY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE)
B-2 BOMBER Mr. INOUYE Congressional Record (Senate - April 14, 1997)
Independent Bomber Force Review Brent Scowcroft -- We do not believe that the planned force of 21 B-2s will satisfy foreseeable U.S. military requirements. Pentagon opposition to further B-2 production is shortsighted and parochial.
The B-2's Stealthy Skins Need Tender, Lengthy Care (BY TONY CAPACCIO) Defense Week, May 27, 1997 -- Maintaining the $2.4 billion B-2 bomber's stealthy skins has proven so difficult that Air Force officials last October, directed six days of repair time be performed for every flying day, accordingly to test data made available to Defense Week.
Square Pegs and Round Holes: Air Force Doctrine and the B-2 Bomber Air Command and Staff College 1997 - What happens when we procure weapon systems based on obsolete doctrine? Worse yet, what happens when we build doctrine around existing resources designed from obsolete ideas?
The Heavy Bomber Industrial Base: A Study of Present and Future Capabilities James L. Barefield II; Anthony R. Williams (Faculty Advisor) Air Command and Staff College 1997
B-2. AIRCRAFT PROGRAM DELLUMS AMENDMENT - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998 (House of Representatives - June 23, 1997)
B-2 bombers deploying to Guam Released: Mar 17, 1998
LONG RANGE AIR POWER REVIEW PANEL CONCLUDES REVIEW March 20, 1998
Air Force dedicates B-2 to Arizona Released: Feb 12, 1998
B-2 successfully drops improved bunker buster bomb Released: Mar 26, 1998 -- A B-2 Spirit bomber dropped two B61-11 bomb shells to test their improved ground penetration capability March 17 at the Stuart Creek Impact Area, 35 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
Air power panel recommends B-2 improvements Released: Mar 24, 1998 WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- A group of former Air Force leaders, a senator and industry representatives recommend that funds for the B-2 bomber program be spent to improve bombers already flying, not to buy new aircraft.
REPORT OF THE PANEL TO REVIEW LONG RANGE AIR POWER 01 April 1998
Air Force dedicates latest B-2 to Mississippi : Apr 28, 1998 (AFNS) -- The U.S. Air Force will name the nation's newest B-2 Spirit stealth bomber the "Spirit of Mississippi" in a ceremony at the Air National Guard Base at Thompson Field, Jackson, Miss., May 23 at 11:00 a.m.
B-2 achieves 'consecutive miracle': May 19, 1998 (AFNS) -- The B-2 bomber Spirit of Louisiana dropped four 2,000 pound BLU-109 versions of the Joint Direct Attack Munition against three targets on the White Sands Missile Range April 28.
Whiteman B-2s in precautionary stand down : 6 Aug 1998
B-2 bombers resume flying operations : 11 Aug 1998
B-2 bombers back in the air Aug. 11, 1998 (ACCNS) - B-2 bombers resumed normal flying operations Aug. 10 after a temporary suspension of peacetime training missions.
B-2s, B-52s deploy to Guam Sept. 3, 1998 (ACCNS) - B-2 and B-52 bombers from Whiteman AFB, Mo., and Barksdale AFB, La., respectively, are deploying to Guam on a Global Power mission.
Bombers participate in Global Power missions in Pacific (ACCNS) Sept. 11, 1998 -- Three B-2s from Whiteman AFB, Mo., three B-52s from Barksdale AFB, La., and 269 support people deployed to Andersen Sept. 5 to participate in the training operations in the Pacific.
2nd Air Expeditionary Group bombers return home : 7 Oct 1998 - by Tech. Sgt. Howard Smith 2nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs -- Bombers from the 2nd Air Expeditionary Group -- three B-2 Spirits and three B-52H Stratofortresses -- completed their global power training mission Oct. 6.
Air Force White Paper on Long-Range Bombers 01 March 1999
Last Block 20 B-2 leaves Whiteman (AFPN) 8 Jan 1999 -- The Spirit of Oklahoma B-2 stealth bomber recently left Whiteman for the Northrop Grumman modification line in Palmdale, Calif. The stealth bomber is the first Block 20 B-2 delivered and now the last one to be upgraded to Block 30. Since their arrival, all but two B-2s were sent back for Block 30 modification.
Tinker B-2 experts solve problem affecting Allied Force mission Oklahoma Air Logistics Center Public Affairs (AFPN) 11 Jun 1999 -- The System Engineering Branch of the B-2 System Program Management Division here has solved a major problem affecting the B-2's mission effectiveness during Operation Allied Force. The actuator remote terminal, or ART, works the various control surfaces on the B-2. Without it, the wing cannot fly. Because of an airflow-cooling problem, the ART was one of the high-failure items on the B-2 bomber.
