The Insane Engineering of the B-2 Bomber

in the dead of night a whisper slices through the air unseen and unheard it penetrates the world's most sophisticated air defenses this Phantom can deliver a payload powerful enough to alter the course of history yet remain as elusive as a shadow at $2 billion per aircraft it's the most expensive plane ever built how does a 50 m wide giant become invisible to radar and why does it look like it flew straight out of a sci-fi movie hey I'm your host Regis and today we're diving into the secrets of the B2 Spirit the stealth bomber that

revolutionized aerial Warfare from its cold war Origins to its cuttingedge technology we'll discover how this ghostly giant changed the game of Global Security the year is 1975 the cold war is at its frostiest and the game of nuclear chest between the United States and the Soviet Union is reaching a critical point picture this squadrons of massive B-52 bombers poised on alert at strategic airbases each loaded with enough Firepower to level entire cities these massive aircraft were constantly kept flying or on high alert ready to get airborne at a moment's notice forming a critical part of

America's nuclear deterrent flying out of Shephard Air Force Base in Texas the routes varied by year but in general there there were routes that went to positions over the Canadian Arctic Alaska Greenland and the Mediterranean Sea but there's a problem the Soviets have been busy they've developed air defense systems so Advanced that they could swap these flying fortresses out of the sky like flies as one Air Force General put it sending B-52s into Soviet airspace would be like throwing a rock at a hornet's nest while wearing a bright red Target on your chest so what

do you do when you're Unstoppable force is starting to encounter an immovable object in the form of an even stronger defense you change the game entirely enter the advanced technology bomber program or ATB the goal create a bomber that could slip past Soviet defenses like a ghost delivering its payload before the enemy even knew it was there it was kind of like trying to build an invisible elephant a seemingly impossible task that had Engineers scratching their heads but this wasn't just just about maintaining military superiority it was about preserving the delicate balance of power that

kept the Cold War from turning hot you see the whole concept of nuclear deterrence relied on the ability to strike back if attacked if the Soviets thought that they could neutralize America's bomber Fleet the risk of a first strike increased dramatically now little did anyone know the solution to this problem had actually already been dreamed up decades earlier and then quite literally smashed to pieces let's rewind the clock back to 1946 World War II has just ended and while most of America is focused on building cars and suburban houses one man is obsessed with a

different kind of construction his name Jack Northrup and his vision the Flying Wing imagine an aircraft that's all Wing no fuselage no tail just one sweeping aerodynamic shape it looked like something out of a Sci-Fi magazine but northrip was convinced it was the future of Aviation in 1947 northrup's dream actually took flight in the form of the YB 49 a massive jet powered flying wing with a 50 m wingspan it was very ahead of its time but there was a problem without modern computers to help control it the YB 49 was about as stable as

a unicycle on a tight RPP the Air Force wasn't impressed and in a decision that must have felt like a gut punch to Northrup they ordered all YB 49s destroyed in 1949 yeah you heard be right these flying wings were all destroyed which gives you an insight into the aggressive research and development approach of the United States Department of Defense but here's where things get interesting let's fast forward again back to 1978 the Air Force initiates the ATB program looking for a bomber that can penetrate the most heavily defended airspace undetected and who wins the

contract well none other than northrip Corporation it's like the Flying Wing Rose for From the Ashes ready for its second act this time armed with Decades of technological advancement and a blank check from the US government Northrup was poised to turn the impossible into reality but how exactly do you make a 100 ton aircraft with a wingspan that as wide as a football field invisible to radar well that's where things get really [Music] interesting okay first things first we have got to talk about that iconic shape the B2 looks like it flew straight out of

a sci-fi movie and there's good reason for that the b2s are Jack northrup's flying wing concept from the 1940s cranked up to 11 but this isn't just about looking cool every curve and angle of this bad boy serves a purpose you see unlike conventional aircraft with their distinct fuselages and Tails the B2 is essentially one continuous Wing this shape does two crucial things it gives the B2 an incredibly low radar cross-section that's stealth speak for really hard to spot and it also provides excellent aerodynamic efficiency crucial for an aircraft designed to fly halfway around the

world without breaking a sweat now let's zoom in on the b2s materials that give it its stealth capabilities the real magic happens on the surface the B2 skin is coated with top secret radar absorbent materials these aren't your average paints they're specially designed to absorb radar energy rather than reflected it's kind of like the B2 is wearing an invisibility cloak a cloak made of materials so classified I'd probably disappear if I told you about them as you can see in this radar cross-section diagram even the way the B2 is built contributes to its stealthiness the

aircraft skin is made up of large smooth panels with minimal seams because every Edge every corner every tiny imperfection could potentially reflect radar waves think of the b2s exterior like a Sleek sport car no rough edges no sharp Corners just you know if that sports car was the size of a warehouse and tried really hard to avoid getting spotted by speeding cameras anyway here's where things get really tricky as we already mentioned flying wings are not very stable without a tail they tend to yaw and Pitch which basically means they just kind of tilt to

the sides to solve this the B2 used a flyby wire system which is so Advanced that it's the literal definition of top secret this computer control system makes constant adjustments to the aircraft's control surfaces keeping it stable in Flight It's So Sophisticated that the B2 can pull off Maneuvers that would be Unthinkable for a play in this size imagine you're a radar operator and suddenly your screen just goes blank well that's the spirit in action the B2 packs four General Electric f118 ge100 turbo fans but good luck spotting them these things are buried deep within

the aircraft's body with the intakes cleverly hidden on top of the wing why well because nothing says hey I'm a plane quite like a radar beam bouncing off a shiny engine fan blade the exhaust is cooled and spread over a wide area at the rear of the aircraft minimizing its infrared signature it's kind of like the B2 is tiptoeing through the sky trying not to leave any Footprints the airframe is made primarily of carbon graphite composite materials lightweight strong and about as radar transparent as you can get without being physically invisible the aircraft was built

in separate sections then assembled with the Precision of a Swiss watchmaker one tiny misalignment and boom suddenly you've got a multi-billion dollar radar reflector instead of a stealth bomber when the B2 was finally unveiled on November 22nd 1988 it was kind of like showing the world a glimpse of the future as it rolled out of its hanger you can almost hear the collective Jaws hitting the floor this was an aircraft that looked like it had been beamed down from a sci-fi movie ready to rewrite the rules of aerial Warfare the technological array packed into this

flying Wonder was nothing short of awe inspiring with over 130 onboard computers controlling every element of the aircraft the B2 wasn't just ahead of its time it was in a time of its own it combined a variety of techniques to achieve its near invisibility its shape confused radar its materials absorbed radar energy and its electronic countermeasures jammed enemy detection systems this graph dramatically illustrates the b2s radar signature compared to Conventional aircraft the result an aircraft with a radar radar cross-section a thousand times smaller than that of the B-52 which on a radar screen would be

kind of like trying to spot a pigeon when the B2 made its Maiden flight on July 17th 1989 it proved that all this fancy engineering wasn't just theoretical this thing could fly and fly well it was the culmination of Decades of work from Jack North RP's early experiments to The Cutting Edge technology of the 1980s the B2 Spirit wasn't just a new aircraft it was a revolution in aviation a flying test estimate to human Ingenuity and perseverance now let's talk about the capabilities and performance that this Beast has because in addition to stealth the B2

spirit is a highly capable asset made to carry out missions deep in hostile territory first up let's talk everyone's favorite payload it can carry 20 tons of bombs basically imagine squeezing 10 sedans into its belly and we're not talking about just conventional bombs here the B2 is part of America's nuclear deterrent strategy for your everyday non- apocalyptic missions the B2 can carry up to 8500 lb GPS guided bombs that's Precision strikes on 80 different targets in one single sorty or if you're feeling a little bit more ambitious let's say it can deploy specialized weapons like

the gbu-57 massive ordinance penetrator at 15 Tons this bunker Buster is basically a small building that you can drop on other buildings kind of like the Air Force's way of saying we don't care how deep deep you dig we can still reach you but here's where things get really impressive the b2s range on a single tank of gas this thing can fly over 11,000 km that's like flying from New York to Moscow and still having enough fuel left to circle the red square a few times and with aerial refueling its range is basically anywhere on

Earth it's the kind of plane that can show up uninvited to a party halfway around the world and still leave before anyone notices now you might be thinking sure it can go far but is it fast well at high altitudes the B2 cruises at about 901 kmph that's not breaking any speed records but remember this is a bomber not a fighter jet it's more about the slow silent approach than the flashy flyby plus it can reach altitudes of 50,000 ft that's almost higher than Mount Everest time 2 it's operated by a crew of two a

pilot and a mission commander and these folks aren't just flying they're managing a suite of state-of-the-art avionics and Mission planning systems that are so Advanced they are in A League of Their Own and get this if GPS goes down the B2 can navigate using the Stars the B2 can operate in all weather conditions day or night its Advanced radar system which has been very controversial allows it to perform terrain forming and terrain avoidance Maneuvers automatically but how much does it cost to have this kind of bomber in your Fleet each B2 costs about $2 billion

per aircraft which is more than the entire GDP of some small countries that's billion with a B to put that into perspective you could buy about 5,000 average American homes for the price of 1 B2 so why is it so expensive well it's a perfect storm of costly factors for starters the technology is Cutting Edge we're talking materials and systems that probably won't be Declassified until our grandkids are old enough to vote then there's the exclusivity Factor only 21 have ever been built maintenance is another budget Buster that radar absorbing skin well it needs to

be reapplied regularly and let's not forget about the constant upgrades the B2 of today is far more advanced than the one that rolled out back in the 80s it somehow managed to age forward getting younger and more capable but is it worth it well that's the multi-billion doll question supporters argue that the b2s unique capabilities justify the cost after all how do you put a price tag on the ability to strike anywhere on the earth without being detected but even stealth aircraft can't hide from aging the Air Force is already eyeing its replacement the B21

Raider the next evolution of stealth technology the B21 Raider is to play multiple roles as an InterContinental strategic bomber and intelligence collection Hub hooked up to a larger Network to make it the first sixth generation aircraft of its kind it's meant to be smaller more affordable and easier to maintain than its predecessor which would allow manufacturing a much larger Fleet so what do you think about the B2 bomber and would you like to learn more about the new Advanced B21 Raider let us know your thoughts in the comments down below and if you love learning

about projects that push the limits of Technology make sure that you're subscribed to meab builds as always thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next video