The Mysteries of the B2 August 20, 2002. Completed on January 17, 2003 (Page 7)
Zero Page
I intend to present here a dossier on the famous American bomber, the B2 “Spirit”. Since there are 2.4 megabytes worth of photographs and various illustrations, I’ve broken this study down into a series of HTML pages; otherwise loading times would be endless. If you don’t want to read it all at once, here’s how to access each page.
Page 1: Long-range bombing, the flying wing design, and stealth technology. Historical background.
Page 2: First images of the B2. Background info on the Strategic Air Command.
Page 3: The B2’s armament
Page 4: B2 missions. In-flight refueling. Crew fatigue issues.
Page 5: Oddities of the B2
Page 6: The B2’s air intakes.
Page 7: A video showing the B2’s MHD system in action.
The material used to compile this analysis comes primarily from the booklet
B2-Spirit in Action by James Goodall
It’s published by Squadron/Signal Publications. Given that the editorial team was able to take numerous close-up photos of this aircraft and interview pilots and officials, this booklet can be considered an official publication of the Air Force itself. Readers can purchase this booklet from a French distributor:
Maison du Livre – Aviation – 75 Bd Malesherbes, 75008 Paris. Tel: (01 45 22 74 166). Price: 13 euros.
In this study I’ll demonstrate that there are countless mysteries surrounding this “fabulous aircraft”, described (in the Washington Post, 1998) as a stealth plane capable of carrying out bombings anywhere on Earth, departing from its base (Whiteman, Missouri) and returning afterwards. The bombs are supposedly delivered less than 24 hours after takeoff (the aircraft is said to fly at subsonic speeds). Some have wondered why these B2s aren’t simply stationed at key locations worldwide, at various U.S. bases. Officials responded that the B2 requires hangars where temperature and humidity must be carefully controlled; such facilities would cost a fortune (this being due to the alleged fragility of its “anti-radar coating”). Thus it’s cheaper to refuel them mid-flight. Another issue concerns how the two-person crew manages during such lengthy flights. In civil aviation, any flight lasting longer than 9 hours requires three pilots, allowing for rotating shifts. In military aviation, B-52s routinely perform 12–15 hour flights with two full crews onboard (six people total, i.e., two sets of pilot-copilot-navigator). These planes also have bunks for crew rest. None of this exists on the B2. One general interviewed in the booklet merely says that pilots get “short naps in turns” (while sitting in their ejection seats!). This seems hard to believe. In another interview quoted in the booklet, a general claims “one of the pilots found a beach chair at a nearby market; its dimensions matched perfectly the space left behind the cockpit.” Readers must judge such statements for themselves.
Finally, the biggest mystery concerns the B2’s price tag: over two billion dollars per unit. Yet apart from this miraculous anti-radar coating, many components of this aircraft didn’t require any special development. Its engines are the same ones used on B1s and other aircraft. Its landing gear is standard. Cabin equipment is likewise standard (including ejection seats). The rotary bomb and cruise missile release mechanism is also standard, both in the U.S. and Russia. There are no revolutionary innovations here. So why is this aircraft so expensive? Why were only 21 units built? In the final section of this study I’ll propose an explanation; it will also appear in my upcoming book.
To read the rest of the dossier, click:
A bit of humor. There’s a U.S.-based academic search engine. If you search for “mhd”, you get the following message:
Sorry, no results at all for mhd.
We recommend trying general terms (“global warming” or “medical errors,” for example), since we’ve designed our search to accommodate that.
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