Strategic bomber Northrop B-2. Bomber B-2: specifications and photos

The mysterious B-2 (bomber) causes a huge number of judgments, mythical legends, sayings. What is this aircraft, if we speak about reliable facts? The American aircraft, the invisible third generation, has been in operation for more than 15 years and despite the veil of secrecy, data on the technological devices and characteristics of the winged ship appear in the global information field.

general description

The B-2 strategic bomber, which is a product of the American military industry, is being developed as an aircraft with reduced detection capability by enemy air defense forces. Completely invisible, it does not become, since special tracking systems define it on the radar screens, but for ordinary air defense it is invisible, which indicates its survivability under bombardment conditions.

Impressive is the appearance of the aircraft, which resembles flying machines from a fantastic film. Bomber B-2 Spirit looks in the sky like a rapidly raced black flap of triangular shape, a look in the profile gives it a real flying saucer, flattened, without tail and fuselage.

To provide the function of invisibility, advanced stealth technologies are used:

• The outer surface of the aircraft is covered with materials with a high degree of absorption of radio waves;
• The constructive scheme of aerodynamics "flying wing" is applied;
• The screening of jet engine jets is used, the ESR value is in the range from 0.0015 to 0.1 square kilometers. M.

Basic features of the aircraft design

The bomber B-2 "Spirit" in the form of a wing is produced, the scheme assumes a complete absence of vertical components of the tail. Fixing flaps on the final part of the wings are installed as guide rudders. Most of the body and the main parts are made of titanium and aluminum alloys. Additional materials are carbon plastics and polyamides with an increased coefficient of heat resistance.

The strategic bomber B-2 Spirit has a supporting element in the form of a titanium caisson located in the front half of the body and continuing in the intermediate sections. The wings of the aircraft are made of carbon fiber. The monolithic panels of the titanium caisson are made 23 mm thick. The connection between the parts is made by diffusion welding or by an improved plastic molding.

The form

At the heart of appearance formation lies the system of four petals, and the shape of the plane is created by 12 lines. This concentrates the reflection in the plane of the horizontal and in a small number of sectors of the central part. The rear and front parallel frames of the hulls, manholes, engine compartments, the chassis aperture flaps create the placed 4 sectors of the main display. With the front and back hemispheres, 2 sectors are obtained.

In the frontal and lateral projections, the winged ship does not have planes and straight lines. At the base of the wing is placed a design that absorbs radio waves. The front of the edge of the aircraft is at an acute angle of 33º, and the rear is made in the form of the English letter W. At the mid-wingspan, the upper break point is determined, the B-2 Northrop bomber has a supercritical wing profile.

The aircraft is equipped with 4 engines located on either side of the bomb compartments. To provide an inconspicuous mode in the sky, engine nozzles are designed flat, there are no slots on the outer surface of the aircraft, and engines and weapons are located inside the apparatus.

Defects in the structure

The fact that the winged ship does not have tail feathers, does not prevent him from maneuvering in the air, B-2 stealth bombers poorly preserve the chosen course in the sky due to the absence of a vertical keel. The rotation is carried out by the roll of the aircraft, in which the force on the lower wing decreases, and the upper one assumes an increasing lifting force, which leads to turning the vehicle in the desired direction. In aviation, there is the concept of "wing load", which is one of the main parameters of the vessel. The less kilogram affects one square centimeter of the wing, the easier it is for an aircraft to make turns in the air. Thus the maneuverability of the bomber increases.

The bomber can not be controlled without the installation of an electric remote control system and automatic devices monitoring the flight process and issuing command impulses to the mechanical parts of the wings.

Cab arrangement

The aircraft is piloted by two crew members, the B-2 (bomber), the photo of which is shown below, is equipped for this purpose with a sealed cabin located in the front of the aircraft.

The pilots enter the workplace through the compartment in the front landing gear along the folding ladder. For each pilot in the workplace there is a complete set of control devices. In the same place, there are buttons for starting engines and systems for airborne equipment of the aircraft. These buttons are placed in case of an alarm.

The protection of the transparent part of the cabin consists of 4 panels of a multilayered design, allowing to view horizontally at an angle of 200º. In the case of a nuclear explosion near the aircraft, a composition with components of gold is deposited on the glass, becoming opaque and not transmissive to radiation. Aviators fly in anti-laser glasses.

Aircraft Control System

The bomber B-2 is equipped with an additional electrical control at a distance, which is a digital system, quad-duplex with elements of rapid response. Automatic control contains four computational units in its composition and remains operational in the event of failure of two of them. The air signal system contains 20 sensors for reading the pressure readings, which makes it unobtrusive.

The American B-2 bomber in the onboard equipment complex has a navigation subsystem of the NSS class. Lightning-fast response to changes in the situation in flight is carried out by two interconnected electronic units: IMU (inertial) and AIU (astronertial). Each of the pilots observes 4 indicators of multifunctional action.

History of creation

During the Cold War between the USSR and America in 1979, R. Reagan during the campaign promises to restore the armament of the American army. A year later, the US government intends to create a number of promising aircraft for the rapid delivery of ammunition to the affected area, and not the first place in the list is bomber invisible B-2. Pragmatic Americans look at the light of every dollar before investing it in any business. A fantastic airplane with increased capabilities and reduced visibility seemed like a project with justified prospects and was under special control of the US government.

Northrop Grumman is developing a low-profile strategic bomber that is designed to break through a dense air-defense system and deliver nuclear and other weapons. It is developed on the basis of the industrial program of ATV.

The project is code-named B-2 with the symbol Spirit. The hitch in 1987, due to the lack of a design decision, postpones the beginning of the tests until 1989 and raises the financing of the project by another billion dollars. Financiers by 1989 determine the cost of the cost of creating a new aircraft at $ 23.1 billion.

The first copy gets a start in life at a military plant in California, where he takes his first flight and demonstration to interested sections of the public. Due to the high cost of building only 21 bomber B-2 Spirit Stealts. All combat vehicles receive personal names that match the names of the states of America. The last copy of the winged ship, called "The Spirit of America", was put into service by the army in July 2000.

Modernization of the aircraft

In 2008, the Congress of America is funding a program to modernize the B-2 (bomber). The control system for the defeat of moving ground targets and the radar network undergoes positive changes. 2009 increases the tonnage of the aircraft, which is 27 tons, divided in half in the right and left compartments. In 2010, the material of the aircraft panel is being improved, which makes it impossible for the recent cracking of the part.

The panel is located between the engines, a violation of its surface is associated with the fact that metal fatigue gradually accumulates, leading to cracks. It closes the composite frame from a reactive hot jet and is under the influence of high temperatures, not the least role is played by vibration during the operation of power plants. The company's engineers are coping with the task of making changes to the design of the tail and the use of more advanced steels.

In April 2010, the bomber receives improved software, a new navigation and progressive communication system. And in September 2012, the aircraft control changed the installation of the upgraded AN / APQ-181 radar with the available AFAR radar. Updates are supplemented by a more sophisticated communication system and the replacement of equipment in the onboard compartment.

Technical characteristics of the combat vehicle

The manned bomber has excellent technical characteristics. B-2 (bomber) is equipped with aviation electronics. Infrared system FLIR creates an extended view, the altimeter with a radio wave HANIUAL is arranged so that its signal during reconnaissance is not detected by the enemy.

For navigation in the given coordinates, an inertial navigation system is installed, there is a channel for data exchange with reconnaissance satellites. Accurate release of controlled ammunition of the JDAM system in the specified range is provided by means of a target indication device. The aircraft has an associated system of sensors transmitting data to the control system about a change in the situation outside the ship.

The aircraft is equipped with an AFAR radar, but this is not a characteristic device for a low-profile aircraft, it is worth releasing one signal and the enemy air defense will detect the aircraft. For example, the old F-117 has only passive means of data collection. Technical characteristics of the aircraft:

• Two pilots are located in the cockpit;
• The length of the flying cruiser is 20.9 m;
• The device has a wingspan of 52.1 m;
• The height of the aircraft is 5.1 m;
• The surface area of the wing is 460 m ² ;
• An empty cruiser without a filling weighs 71.7 tons;
• The normal and maximum take-off mass is 152.6 and 171 tons respectively;
• Fuel for fueling the apparatus for the entire flight period weighs 73 tons;
• Payload before modernization and after - 22.7 and 27 tons respectively;
• The engine of the aircraft is a two-circuit turbojet, weighing 1.452 tons;
• The maximum possible speed of the flight is 860 km / h;
• The average speed of the cruiser is 776 km / h, the battle area captures a radius of 5310 km;
• The flight range is 11110 km, the journey time is up to - 6.5 hours, B-2 (bomber) rises to a maximum of 15,000 m.

Applied weapons

To defeat the target, nuclear munitions are used at 340 kt / ton, 1.1 m / ton. On board the aircraft carry conventional bombs 16 x 84, 36-cluster bombs 80 x 82. Used weapons of high accuracy, as a means of destruction used cruise missiles.

There is a common myth that a B-2 bomber can not use a cruise missile. This is not true, since for the carrier in this case it is necessary to suspend the ammunition in the compartment for bombs and move it to the set point of discharge, with which the apparatus can easily cope.

Disadvantages of the Invisible

Wide layers of US military and congressmen are simply deceived in the best expectations. Not all people have knowledge in the field of radio engineering, and even more so in the phenomenon of diffraction of electromagnetic radiation. Before them lecturers came forward with the idea of creating an invisible bomber, scientists vying with each other promised the creation of such an aircraft today and many people were infected with this thought.

But the effectiveness of the idea is somewhat doubtful, the resulting dispersion area of the aircraft remains in the range from 0.0015 to 0.1 m ² . This characteristic is much superior to the readings, for example, of a fighter with an EPR of 3-4 m ² . At first glance, the dispersion area is in a favorable range.

But the reduced ESR of the bomber does not become a critical indicator of its invisibility. Reducing dispersion is effective only for flying over obsolete air defense models. Modern modifications of radars are able to see the aircraft with such a dispersion area at a distance of up to ten to twenty kilometers.

Flat forms, the lack of vertical lines and tail fins leads to the impossibility of staying on the chosen course, and this requires the installation of expensive electronic control.

There were practical problems with infrared radiation, despite the joint efforts of engineers and scientists. They try to locate the engines on top of the aircraft, change the nozzle outlets for accelerated cooling of the products of the burnt fuel. This gives its results, but the ideal concealment of reactive hot exhaust does not work.

Testimonies of eyewitnesses at all kinds of modern exhibitions show that through the pupil of the thermal imager the airplane is very noticeably translucent and is clearly discernible. The device can see the enemy, in which case the B-2 (bomber) is doomed to destruction.

Equivalent to a large crowd of aircraft

According to the calculations of military scientists, in order to inflict damage at the depth of the enemy's location, F-16 bombers in the number of 32 vehicles with the use of high-precision weapons require a variety of accompanying equipment. The escort consists of 16 fighters, 4 jamming aircraft, 8 flying vehicles for suppressing radar and a whole flock of refuellers (15 pieces) that provide the above-named crews with fuel.

The group of invisible F-117s from 8 aircrafts, accompanied by two basic refuellers, is absolutely identical to the power strike. But the American B-2 bomber comes out in this comparative analysis to the leading positions - performing a similar task requires the presence of only two stealth systems in the air and no fuel tankers are required, since the maximum flight range does not require refueling in the sky. As you can see, the savings are obvious.

Accident bomber invisible

The accident occurred on the island of Guam. The airfield is abandoned by four aircraft from those that last 4 months were based on the territory of the island. The bomber with the name "Spirit of Kansas" takes off second. A characteristic cotton is heard, an exhaust of a thick smoke appears at some distance from the tower of the dispatcher. Called fire and sanitation, but the plane can not be saved, it is completely destroyed.

The crew of the first airplane taking off was ordered to return immediately to the place of deployment, all flights of this type of bombers were suspended until the source of the accident was clarified. The pilots managed to catapult and received not very strong injuries, one was discharged on the second day, and the other was treated for some time in the hospital.

It is assumed that the cause of the accident was the failure of the mechanism or the action of the human factor. After the study, a special commission concluded that the explosion of the B-2 invisible bomber occurred as a result of engine failure.

Career of the combat bomber

For the first time, the bomber was used during the NATO war in Yugoslavia, where about 600 precision munitions were dropped. Characteristically, the planes bombed without a transfer, they departed from the base in Missouri, dumped bombs in Kosovo and fled back.

The Iraq war provides a new springboard for military operations. Bomber invisible B-2 takes off from the atoll of Diego Garcia and another secret base without disclosing the name. In total, the planes make about 22 sorties. Whiteman Air Base released 27 aircraft loaded with ammunition, which, together with the first bombings, dropped more than 300 tons of bombs into Iraq. The average stay in the air was 30 hours, while it is noted that the longest record length belongs to one of the crews who are in the sky for more than 50 hours.

A lot of experience in the fighting career adds to the participation in the bombing of Libya in 2011, in which ammunition dropped on 45 ground targets. For a tiny series of 21 units of bombers, a very good combat experience is noted.

Summarizing

Battle bomber B-2 Spirit Stealth The history of its creation shows how it is not necessary to produce aircraft. Despite the profusion of hype, which was developed around the idea of creating an invisible aircraft, it was not possible to release an airship that was perfectly suitable for advertising description. Super-expensive bombers cause more damage to the US Congress than its opponents. The investment of billion means is not justified, there is little efficiency in connection with the growing new technologies for detecting air targets.

On such a sad note, the history of stealth bombers does not end, it is optimistic that many countries are adopting a well-known technology. Obviously, it has a rational application, it is another matter how well the invested funds correspond to the result obtained.