What is the payload of a B-2 bomber?
40,000 pounds
The B-2 was developed in a shroud of secrecy by Northrop Grumman. It is a multi-role bomber, capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. It has a payload of 40,000 pounds and has been in operational use since 1993.
What bombs can a B-2 carry?
The B-2 can carry up to sixteen B-61 or megaton-yield B-83 nuclear gravity bombs on the rotary launchers inside its two bomb bays. The aircraft’s avionics are even hardened versus the electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear blasts.
What is the difference between B-2 and b21?
The most apparent difference is that the B-21 has a clean diamond-shaped center body section in contrast to the B-2’s more jagged rear center wing outline. The indents in the B-2’s rear center wing were created by the engine exhausts, a design feature that appears to be absent from the B-21.
Can the b2 carry nukes?
The B-2 stealth bomber has the capacity to carry up to 40,000lb of weapons, including conventional and nuclear weapons, precision-guided munitions, gravity bombs and a range of maritime weapons. Each weapons bay is equipped with a rotary launcher and two bomb-rack assemblies.
Is the B 52 getting new engines?
The B-52 bomber fleet is getting a new lease on life. Rolls-Royce Corp. has been awarded a $500 million, six-year contract to provide commercial replacement engines for the B-52H Stratofortress, the U.S. Air Force announced. The contract has the potential to go as high as $2.6 billion.
Why is the B-2 so expensive?
A key reason for this cost is the provision of air-conditioned hangars large enough for the bomber’s 172 ft (52 m) wingspan, which are needed to maintain the aircraft’s stealth properties, particularly its “low-observable” stealth skins. Maintenance costs are about $3.4 million a month for each aircraft.
Can the B-2 carry nukes?
Is the B-21 bigger than the B-2?
The B-21 is believed to be somewhat smaller than the B-2, with a payload of around 30,000-pounds, just large enough to carry one GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator precision-guided conventional bomb, the largest in the Air Force inventory.
How many bombs can a B-21 carry?
Designed during the Cold War, it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber is subsonic and can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as up to eighty 500-pound class (230 kg) Mk 82 JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400-pound (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs….Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.
| B-2 Spirit | |
|---|---|
| Number built | 21 |
Are b2 bombers still used?
In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff, though the crew ejected safely. As of 2018, twenty B-2s are in service with the United States Air Force, which plans to operate them until 2032, when the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is to replace it.
What is the payload of a b – 2 Bomber?
It can carry about 18 000 kg of combat payload, including cruise missiles, thermonuclear free-fall bombs, and precision-guided bombs. It can fly over 12 000 km without the need to refuel. Currently the B-2 Spirit is the best bomber ever built.
What is the top speed of a B2 bomber?
The maximum speed of a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit ship is about 628 mph
Where is the B2 bomber base in Missouri?
Whiteman AFB, Missouri, is the only operational base for the B-2. The first aircraft, Spirit of Missouri, was delivered Dec. 17, 1993. Depot maintenance responsibility for the B-2 is performed by Air Force contractor support and is managed at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB , Okla .
Where are B2 bombers based?
America’s fleet of 20 B-2 bombers is based at Whiteman Air Force Base, about an hour’s drive southeast of Kansas City.