I don't know how many of you out there in RP land have seen a B-2 Stealth Bomber close up or in action... I for one have seen them in various videos, but never up close and personal. LOL!
The Air Force always seems to take a beating from all the other branches, but the firepower we command across the board is extensive... I am sharing what I believe is an outstanding 12 minute video of a B-2 Bomber in the hangar and on the flight line, taking off with its crew for some training exercises. One just has to see one of these sleek Birds slipping under a huge Air Force tanker for refueling...as gentle as a hummingbird landing on a feeder... This video will also show you what our Air Force ground crew does to take care of one of these Birds in prepping it for its next mission... I sure am glad that this is our Aircraft and not our enemies! LOL! This particular video has garnered some 3,470,222 views since 2016... Let's see how many views we can add!
NOTE: It is best to watch this on the largest screen you have available... A smartphone just won't give you the same since of awe!!! I have watched this FULL SCREEN on my 24 inch monitor next to my laptop.... It is like I am right there on the tanker looking down on the B-2 Bomber
Here is some detail on the B-2 Strategic Stealth Bomber
"The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy penetration strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb (230 kg)-class (Mk 82) JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.
Development originally started under the "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) project during the Carter administration; its expected performance was one of his reasons for the cancellation of the supersonic B-1A bomber. The ATB project continued during the Reagan administration, but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the B-1 program as well. Program costs rose throughout development. Designed and manufactured by Northrop, later Northrop Grumman, the cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million (in 1997 dollars).Total procurement costs averaged $929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. The total program cost including development, engineering and testing, averaged $2.1 billion per aircraft in 1997.
The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) with one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a nuclear bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat, dropping conventional, non-nuclear ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It later served in Iraq and Afghanistan." Provided by the Military Archives...
I hope that you all enjoyed this video!
Kerry
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