The visitors took the form of two Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit ‘stealth’ bombers from the US Air Force (USAF) 509th Bomb Wing based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.听

The aircraft (named 鈥淪pirit of America鈥� and 鈥淪pirit of Ohio鈥�) formed a two-ship detachment from a USAF bomber task force currently operating out of Keflavik in Iceland. The aircraft are currently being deployed on one of the USAF精东影业 special ‘global power missions.’听

The stealth pair, not normally seen on British soil, were operating under the callsigns 鈥淒EATH31鈥� and 鈥淒EATH32鈥� and were reportedly taking part in an exercise over the North Sea. 

The two bombers were due to refuel from a pair of KC-135 Stratotankers based at RAF Mildenhall, another former RAF base which is located in the east of England and is currently leased to the USAF.听听However, only one of the pair of tankers was able to launch, leaving the pair of B-2As running low on fuel and unable to make it back to their temporary base in Iceland.

With RAF Fairford ready and able to accept the aircraft, the pair landed at the air base at dusk to receive a 鈥�hot pit鈥� refueling where the engines are kept running while the fuel tanks are topped up. 

Following the completion of the refueling process, the aircraft departed in darkness. While one of the planes reportedly made a safe return to Iceland, it is understood that the other flew back across the Atlantic and headed home to Whiteman Air Base.  

The USAF global power missions, which generally involve aircraft being in the air for well over 20 hours, have been conducted for many years and are designed (among other more classified reasons) to demonstrate the global strike capability of the USAF bomber force. 

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The aircraft belonged to the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing of the United States Air Force, housed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

The B-2 Spirit deployment was conducted in the framework of Bomber Task Force 2023, a regular strategic operation functioning as both a deterrent and a source of diplomatic reassurance alongside NATO allies and partners.

“Each bomber task force mission underscores the prowess of our armed forces in navigating today’s intricate and unpredictable global security terrain, with a focus on fostering stability, security, and freedom across Europe,” emphasized General James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, US Air Forces Africa, and NATO Allied Command in a press release.

The B-2 Spirit’s return to Europe follows a period of temporary suspension due to a safety pause earlier in the year.

On December 10, 2022, a stealth bomber requested an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base after experiencing an in-flight malfunction. The aircraft caught fire and suffered damage, the 509th Bomb Wing public affairs wrote in a statement to 精东影业 at the time. The USAF ordered the grounding of the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber fleet pending a safety review.

The Northrop Grumman B-2 is one of three strategic bombers operated by the United States Air Force, along with the supersonic Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

Northrop Grumman demonstrates B-2 Spirit’s automated mission updates

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Whiteman Air Force Base is the main air base of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, where 19 aircraft are currently flown by the US Air Force 509th and 131st Bomb Wings.

The IAMT demonstration showcased a new capability allowing the B-2 Spirit to perform digital machine-to-machine transfers of new missions while in flight, forgoing the need for flight crews to manually input mission data.

The specific aircraft involved, designated Vehicle 1086 and nicknamed the “Spirit of Kitty Hawk,” was outfitted with Northrop Grumman’s Multi-Mission Domain (MMD) architecture.

During the demonstration, around 50 mission transfers took place over two days, carried out in partnership with the U.S. Air Force.

“We are equipping the B-2 with capabilities to communicate and operate in advanced battle management systems and the joint all-domain command and control environment, ensuring the B-2 stays ahead of evolving threats,鈥� Nikki Kodama, Vice President and B-2 Program Manager at Northrop Grumman, explained in a press release. 鈥淭his digital software integration with our weapon system will improve connectivity and survivability in highly contested environments as part of our modernization efforts.”

This technology is part of Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Collaborative Combat Communication (B2C3) Spiral 1 program, aimed at enhancing the B-2’s communication abilities within the current battlespace environment. Digital communications capabilities should be extended to the entire B-2 fleet.

The Northrop Grumman B-2 is one of three strategic bombers operated by the United States Air Force, along with the supersonic Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The result of the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program, it flew for the first time in 1989.

The B-2 (and the B-1) should eventually be replaced by the B-21 Raider. Unveiled by Northrop Grumman on December 2, 2022, this new strategic bomber reuses some of the B-2精东影业 general characteristics with a stealthy flying wing design.

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On December 10, 2022, a stealth bomber requested an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, United States, after experiencing an in-flight malfunction, the 509th Bomb Wing public affairs wrote in a statement to 精东影业 at the time. The aircraft caught fire and suffered damage.  

The USAF is currently reviewing the fleet for any potential safety defects. An investigation into the incident was opened.  

鈥淓very incident is unique, and we are currently evaluating what went wrong and how we can mitigate future risk,鈥� 509th Bomb Wing spokesperson Beth Del Vecchio told Air Force Times in a . 鈥淲e will resume normal operations once a safety investigation has been concluded.鈥� 

精东影业 reached out to the 509th Bomb Wing for comment.

The Northrop Grumman B-2 is one of the three strategic bombers operated by the United States Air Force, along with the supersonic Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.  

Whiteman Air Force Base is the main air base of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, where 19 aircraft are currently flown by the US Air Force 509th and 131st Bomb Wings. 

Valued between $1 and $2 billion per aircraft, the fleet is even more precious to the USAF, as due to budget constraints, only 21 of the 132 planned aircraft were built. 

Questioned by Air Force Times, the USAF declined to say whether the bomber involved in the incident had resumed flying. 

The B-2 (and the B-1) should eventually be replaced by the B-21 Raider. Unveiled by Northrop Grumman on December 2, 2022, this new strategic bomber reuses some of the B-2精东影业 general characteristics with a sleek flying wing design. 

A hundred copies of the upcoming B-21 are expected to be eventually ordered, which is more than the fleets of B-1s and B-2s combined.  

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The incident took place on December 10, 2022. After experiencing an in-flight malfunction, the stealth bomber requested an emergency landing at the air base, the 509th Bomb Wing public affairs wrote in a statement to 精东影业.

“There was a fire associated with the aircraft after landing, and the base fire department extinguished the fire,” the statement read.

No injuries were reported. The aircraft was damaged. An investigation into the incident was opened.听

With its characteristic hawk精东影业-beak profile, the Northrop Grumman B-2 is one of the three strategic bombers operated by the United States Air Force, along with the supersonic Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.   

It is particularly precious to the USAF, as due to budget constraints, only 21 of the 132 planned aircraft were built.  

Whiteman Air Force Base is the main air base of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, where 19 aircraft are being flown by the US Air Force 509th and 131st Bomb Wings. 

On December 2, 2022, Northrop Grumman unveiled the successor to the B-2 Spirit: the B-21 Raider. Due to replacing both the B-2 and the B-1 Lancer, it reuses some of the B-2精东影业 general characteristics with a sleek flying wing design. A hundred copies of the upcoming B-21 are expected to be eventually ordered, which is more than the fleets of B-1s and B-2s combined. 

In pictures: B-2 Spirit strategic bombers conduct elephant walk

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As part of the series of routine training and readiness drills, bombers from the two wings met on the runway of Whiteman AFB for what is known as an 鈥渆lephant walk鈥�.听

This exercise听consists of听rolling a large number of aircraft in close formation on a runway before taking off in short intervals. It is a way to showcase the availability of the aircraft and is implicitly a strong demonstration of power.听听听

鈥淭his is a reminder that the B-2 Spirit bomber is the visible leg of nuclear triad,鈥� said Colonel Geoffrey Steeves, 509th Operations Group commander. 鈥淪imply put, the B-2 is the world’s most strategic aircraft. It is the only aircraft on the planet that combines stealth, payload, and long-range strike. We are charged with delivering the nation精东影业 most powerful weapons for our most important missions.鈥�

A unique aircraft听

With its characteristic hawk’s-beak profile, the Northrop Grumman B-2 is one of the three strategic bombers operated by the United States Air Force, along with the supersonic Rockwell B-1 Lancer and the venerable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.听听

Powered by four General Electric F118 turbojet engines, it is capable of carrying about 35 tons of conventional or nuclear bombs and cruise missiles in two internal holds. Its stealth capability makes it particularly fit for deep penetration into enemy territory to carry out an offensive strike. Due to budget constraints, only 21 of the 132 planned aircraft were built, leading to high maintenance costs.听

The design was so successful that in 2015, the USAF trusted Northrop again to develop its first bomber of the XXI century, the B-21 Raider. Due to replacing both the B-2 Spirit and the B-1 Lancer, it reuses some of the B-2精东影业 general characteristics with a sleek flying wing design.听

A hundred copies of the upcoming B-21 are expected to be ordered eventually, which is more than the fleets of B-1s and B-2s combined. The B-21 Raider will be unveiled on December 2, 2022.听

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Northrop Grumman will roll out the B-21 Raider on December 2, 2022, the first new bomber aircraft designed in the United States since the Cold War.  

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This, coupled with an array of sensors and other high-tech features, means that possible uses of the B-21 go far beyond its role as a bomber.  

The new rendering brings the aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base, California, where the 420th Flight Test Squadron will be in charge of all flight and ground testing of the B-21 Raider. It confirms that unlike its flying wing predecessor, the B-2 Spirit, it will trade the characteristic hawk-beak profile for a flat, streamlined nose.

The USAF plans to incrementally replace the B-2 and the B-1 Lancer bombers to create a two-bomber fleet of B-21s and modified B-52s. “Nuclear modernization is a top priority for the Department of Defense and the Air Force, and B-21 is key to that plan,鈥� commented Randall Walden, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director in a statement. 

The maiden flight of the first Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider long-range strike bomber (LRSB) is expected to take place in early 2022. Once it enters production, its acquisition should be accelerated to speed up the B-1 and B-2 retirement. In 2010, the USAF revealed it expected a cost of $600 million per B-21, against $1.180 billion for the B-2.

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In a live stream with the Air Force Association精东影业 Mitchell Institute, the 8th Air Force commander Major General Mark Weatherington confirmed that the first B-21, currently under construction, would not fly before 2022. The upcoming strategic bomber was previously expected to take to the skies in late 2021. The slight delay should not affect the aircraft精东影业 development schedule.

Once the B-21 enters production, the USAF could consider accelerating its acquisition to reach an earlier initial operational capability (IOC) date, according to Weatherington. That would allow for the Air Force to retire both the B-1 and B-2 bombers sooner, thus saving on logistics and training. 

The 8th Air Force operates the heavy bomber force of the United States, namely the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber that the B-21 is due to replace, as well as the venerable B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber aircraft.

A hundred copies of the upcoming B-21 should eventually be ordered, which is more than the fleets of B-1s and B-2s combined.

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As old as aviation itself

The idea of a flying wing dates back to the first days of aviation. Humanity tried to conquer the skies by biomimicry, as they saw the wings of birds and bats as the natural way to go. One could argue that as early as 1485, the Ornithopter of Leonardo da Vinci presented the characteristics of a flying wing: no fuselage and no tail, using the whole airframe as a lift-generating surface.

In 1876, two French engineers, Alphonse P茅naud and Paul Gauchot, filed an ambitious patent for a seaplane with a flying wing structure that also featured one of the first retractable landing gears. However, the project failed to find sufficient funding and overwhelmed by his financial failure, Alphonse P茅naud eventually killed himself. A few more concepts emerged in the following decade from engineers such as Ren茅 Arnoux or John William Dunne. But it was not until the end of the First World War, with the development of civil aviation, that for the first time the idea made its way into the commercial market.

The German era

In 1929, the Junkers G 38, designed by the famous German engineer Hugo Junkers, took off for the first time: the civilian aircraft could carry 34 passengers, some of them sitting in the wings. Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) would use the prototype for charter and scheduled flights under the designation D-2000. But while the fuselage was reduced to a minimum, it still possessed a tail.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed by a defeated Germany in the First World War, had a major influence over German engineering. The country was forbidden to rearm, and thus aeronautical engineers switched their focus towards gliders. It was in this context that two brothers, Walter and Reimar Horten, began developing their flying wings.

When the Second World War broke out, the Horten brothers already developed a few successful flying wings . Their Ho II and Ho III gliders were considered by the Luftwaffe as an efficient way to deliver ammunition during a hypothetical invasion of the United Kingdom. That invasion was never meant to be.

For several years, the Horten brothers continued improving their wing glider until 1944, when they were contracted by the Luftwaffe to integrate two turbojets to their design. Thus was born the Ho IX (also known as the Ho 229 or Go 229). The aircraft was one of the few concepts that fit the 鈥�3脳1000鈥� doctrine of Hermann G枚ring, Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe, meaning that it could transport 1000 kilograms of bombs for 1000 kilometers at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour. The two engineers even imagined a specific coating that would have improved the stealth ability of their bomber.

The Horten IX V1 before a test flight (Credit: U.S. Government)

The Ho IX never entered service and in April 1945, the U.S. Army seized the prototypes in the factory. The brothers continued to design flying wings until their death.

The obsession of one man: Jack Northrop

On the other side of the Atlantic, the obsession for flying wings was shared by another famous name in aviation history: Jack Northrop. After two unsuccessful attempts (the X-216H and the Northrop Type 9), Northrop became aware of the Horten精东影业 research on tailless flying gliders. In 1939, he came up with a new aircraft, the Northrop N-1M, a long-range bomber destined to cross the Atlantic to operate in Europe. In July 1941, a scale model prototype took to the skies for the first time, becoming the first operational powered flying wing. While the concept was not developed, it raised the interest of the newly created United States Air Force for the unconventional design.

From this moment, Northrop would regularly adapt the flying wing characteristics to the needs expressed by its new client (the XB-35 and the XB-49 bombers, the XP-79 fighter jet, and even some drones such as the JB-1 and JB-10) but failed to win any contract.

The Northrop YB-49 (Credit: U.S. Air Force photo)

However, in a perfect example of serendipity, it is said that the manufacturer discovered the stealth capabilities of the flying wing during the flight tests of the XB-49, as its small radar cross-section made it hard for airports to see the approaching aircraft.

In 1975, Northrop competed against Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas in the Experimental Survivable Testbed (XST) stealth bomber program, but fell short to Lockheed精东影业 Have Blue concept that would become the legendary F-117 Nighthawk.

Fortunately, Northrop did not give up, and it went on to participate in the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program, which was supposed to provide a new generation bomber. Flying for the first time in 1989, the B-2A Spirit strategic bomber would become one of the backbones of the United States nuclear deterrence to this day.

In 2015, the USAF trusted Northrop again to develop its first bomber of the XXI century, the B-21 Raider. After the success of the B-2A, other manufacturers would develop their own flying wings: Boeing with its MQ-25 Stingray refueler drone, Dassault with the nEUROn demonstrator, and even startups such as the Swiss senseFly (a subsidiary of Parrot) with the miniature eBee, a fully autonomous mapping drone.

A flying wing airliner?

If the stealth capability of the design is irrelevant to passenger transport, the low drag and increased lift surface of the flying wing could significantly save on fuel consumption by as much as 20%, marking a step forward towards a more sustainable aviation. Moreover, by giving the ability to place the engines on top of the airframe, the noise perceived on the ground could be reduced.

But if the concept has been mastered for 30 years, its application to commercial aviation raises several problems. The main one is passenger experience. By moving away the seats from the plane精东影业 center of gravity, it increasingly subjects passengers to yaw and rolling movements and could induce some discomfort. The tailless design also proves to be rather unstable and difficult to control due to the scarcity of yaw control surfaces.

Another issue is modularity. The classic 鈥渢ube and wing鈥� configuration allows for easy derivations: by extending or reducing the fuselage, a manufacturer can create a whole family of aircraft. But the calculations behind the Blended Wing Body are more complex, and any modification to the cabin would have consequences for the wings, making each design unique.听听

Nonetheless, with the same persistence as their military counterparts, commercial aircraft manufacturers and airlines have been trying to outweigh the cons. McDonnell Douglas was the first to seriously study the concept of the Blended Wing Body, a hybrid between a conventional fuselage and a flying wing, as early as the 1990s. However, after it was acquired by Boeing in 1997, the aircraft stayed on the drawing-board.

The same year, a model developed by Boeing Phantom Works, in collaboration with NASA and the USAF, took to the skies. It was turned into a full-size aircraft named the X-48A, with a wingspan of 10.7 meters (35 feet) but was eventually abandoned in 2004.听

Two smaller versions of only 6.4 meters (21 feet), the X-48Bs, were assembled by UK-based Cranfield Aerospace, a division of the Cranfield University, and were successfully tested in flight between 2007 and 2010.听

听

The X-48B during its first test flight (Credit: NASA)

An ultimate version, the X-48C Hybrid Wing Body aircraft, flew between 2012 and 2013, before the program came to an end. 鈥淥ur team at NASA Dryden has done what we do best, flight test a unique aircraft and repeatedly collect data that will be used to design future 鈥榞reen鈥� airliners,鈥� Heather Maliska, NASA Dryden精东影业 X-48C project manager, said at the time. Boeing is reportedly working on a bigger version, but it has yet to be unveiled to the public.

On June 2, 2019, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines showed interest in the concept. During the IATA Annual General Meeting in Seoul, South Korea, the airline signed a cooperative agreement with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to work together on the 鈥淔lying-V鈥�, a wide-fuselage long-haul aircraft that integrates the passenger cabin, cargo hold and fuel tanks in the wing structure. The first flight test is expected to take place in 2020.

Last but not least, Airbus lifted the veil on one of its secret projects named MAVERIC during the 2020 edition of the Singapore Airshow 2020. Started in 2017, the 2-meter long and 3.2-meter wide model completed its maiden flight in June 2019. The flight-test campaign should continue until the middle of 2020.

All in all, 2020 could be the year when we finally know if the flying wings are the way of the future for commercial aviation.

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