Aircraft Model / Manufacturer :

Northrop B-2 Spirit

Description:

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is a multi-role stealth heavy bomber, capable of penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses to deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. B2s are operated exclusively by the United States Air Force. Because of its astronomical capital and operations costs, the project was politically controversial during its development and placement into service. In addition, the United States Congress scaled back initial plans to purchase 135 of the bombers.By the early 1990s the United States elected to purchase 21 of the bombers at US$737 million per aircraft. Total program cost averaged US$2.1 billion per airplane in 1997 dollars.