Northrop B-2 Spirit
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is a flying-wing stealth bomber with no separate fuselage or tail at all, just a single smooth, blended wing shape designed to be almost invisible to radar from every angle. Each aircraft cost roughly a billion dollars, largely due to the tiny production run of just 21 aircraft and the specialised radar-absorbing coatings that require careful, climate-controlled maintenance hangars. It can carry nuclear or conventional weapons and has flown ultra-long-range combat missions launched directly from the continental United States to targets in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and beyond. It remains, decades after its 1989 first flight, one of the most expensive and technologically ambitious aircraft ever built.
Did you know?
The B-2 Spirit is a flying-wing stealth bomber with no separate fuselage or tail, just one blended shape built to evade radar.
Specifications
| Length | 21 m (69 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 52.4 m (172 ft) |
| Height | 5.2 m (17 ft) |
| Persons on board | 2 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 170 t |
| Range | 6,000 NM (11,112 km) |
| Maximum speed | 475 kt (880 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 50,000 ft (15,240 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 41,000 ft (12,497 m) |
| Rate of climb | 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s) |
| Landing distance | 1,500 m (4,921 ft) |
| Fuel capacity | 90,000 l |
| Engines | 4x General Electric F118 |
| Units built | 21 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Northrop B-2 Spirit starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Northrop, the B-2 Spirit family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
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