How fast can the B-2 Stealth Bomber fly? Well, we don’t really know. That information is classified. Maybe, when the B-2 is retired over the course of the next decade, the B-2’s speed will finally be revealed, at least we think so.
What we do know is that the B-2 can travel at “high subsonic” speed. Assume somewhere in the Mach 0.7-0.9 range. So, a B-2 probably flies about as fast as you might travel commercially from LAX to JFK. Maybe a little faster.
That’s assuming the “high subsonic” descriptor is accurate. Could the Air Force be downplaying the speed of the B-2 for the sake of causing America’s adversaries to miscalculate for a slower aircraft? Sure, it’s possible.
But the B-2 doesn’t look like it’s built for speed. The airframe looks like it was built for stealth, which for a time, the B-2 was.
B-2 Speed? That's Classified. SorryA lot of information about the B-2 is classified. The B-2 was the world’s first stealth bomber. The B-2 is still the world’s only stealth bomber. So the novelty of the airframe would inspire curiosity, perhaps espionage efforts.
But it’s not just the novelty of the B-2 that has US officials playing their cards close, it’s the capabilities of the platform. The B-2 can deliver either conventional or nuclear ordnance. And when the B-2 debuted it could deliver its ordnance without tripping the air space wires of our enemies. In effect, the Americans had method for sneaking into enemy air space and dropping a nuclear bomb wherever they chose, without detection.
That’s a game-changing geopolitical tool with technical data that the Americans were highly incentivized to protect – and which America’s adversaries were highly incentivized to obtain. The significance of the B-2 has waned over time, in direct ratio to the increase of sophistication of air defense systems.
So, as countries like Russia and China have developed more sensitive aircraft detection and tracking systems, the B-2’s stealth has become more and more outdated.
Today, the B-2 just doesn’t have the sneak-past-enemy-lines ability that it once had. That’s why the B-21 is under development. To give Americans that strategic edge again.
B-2 Bomber Is All StealthBut for the B-21, like the B-2 before, speed will never be the emphasis. The designers were not building an airframe for speed. For speed, the Americans can rely on the B-1 Lancer (at least until the B-1 itself is retired) or any of their myriad fighter jets. In designing the B-2 compromises were made for the sake of stealth. For example, the engines were likely designed and situated not with a priority for maximizing thrust-to-weight ratio but for minimizing the exhaust signature.
The flight control surfaces were not designed to minimize drag (and hence increase speed) but to minimize the radar cross section (RCS).
Speed has its value, especially in a defensive context, as an interceptor, for example. But speed means little these days with respect to penetrating air space – until you get to speeds at which an airframe can outrun a missile, that is – then speed becomes relevant again.
But for the B-2, and the forthcoming B-21, speed will not be the point.
About the Author: Harrison KassHarrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
All images are Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.
Summary and Key Points: The B-21 Raider, designed to replace the B-2 Spirit, represents the next generation of stealth technology. Claims suggest it could have a radar cross section (RCS) as small as that of an insect. Indeed, expectations could be the bomber's biggest enemy for the moment.
-Developed by Northrop Grumman, the B-21 is engineered to penetrate advanced anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) defenses, a necessity given the increasing sophistication of such systems.
-While details remain largely classified, the B-21 is expected to incorporate refined stealth features, advanced avionics, and upgraded systems to ensure it can operate in contested airspaces, maintaining strategic deterrence in modern conflicts where older airframes like the B-2 may fall short.
B-21 Raider: The Next Evolution in Stealth TechnologyThe B-21 Raider is slated to replace the B-2 Spirit, which was itself a game-changing stealth platform. But the B-2 is a generation-old, and aerospace designers have been refining their stealth capabilities in the thirty years since the B-2 was developed.
The B-21 promises to be the culmination of those stealth refining efforts, with some claiming that the new stealth bomber will have the radar cross section (RCS) of an insect. While the claim – that a large, fuel-guzzling military aircraft could have the RCS of a honeybee – seems hyperbolic, one Washington thinktank is backing the claim, and urging the US to pursue large-scale acquisition of the B-21.
How Stealthy Is the New B-21?“The multi-author paper from the Hudson Institute stresses the strategic deterrence potential of the Northrop Grumman B-21 based on its ability to penetrate the most sophisticated anti-access-area denial (A2/AD) defenses, its long range and flexibility,” Forbes reported.
The bit about being able to penetrate the most sophisticated A2/AD defenses is oblique, technical jargon for: the B-21 is extremely stealth aka has a miniscule RCS. So, whereas a non-stealth airframe, with a relatively large RCS, would not be able to penetrate even rudimentary A2/AD defenses, an airframe capable of penetrating sophisticated A2/AD defenses is impliedly very stealth (low RCS).
The ever-increasing sophistication of A2/AD defenses is what has necessitated the reciprocating increase in stealth sophistication. Air space is getting harder to penetrate. Airframes with smaller RCS signatures are becoming required to penetrate those air spaces.
Fourth-generation fighters like the F-15 and F-16 are relatively useless against sophisticated adversaries with A2/AD systems in place, meaning the fourth-generation fighters would be relegated to defensive roles only in a modern conflict.
Even the B-2, which debuted as the world’s first stealth bomber and forced America’s enemies to make geopolitical recalculations to account for the fact that there was now a nuclear-armed bomber that could move about unseen, has lost its stealth edge; the B-2’s exact stealth measurements are not public information, but one can presume that at least part of the Air Force’s impetus in replacing the $2-billion-per-unit B-2 bomber was because the B-2 could no longer penetrate air space as smoothly as it once could.
What Will the B-21 Raider Be Capable of?Not a whole lot is known about the B-21. The new bomber is undergoing initial flight testing, we know that, but for the most part, the program is cloaked in secrecy. The most telling disclosure that the program has offered is a set of pictures.
The pictures show an airframe that looks almost like a carbon copy of the B-2 – a flying wing. Presumably, if one were to dig into the granular details of the airframe, the B-21 would feature subtle changes from the B-2 – changes that lower the RCS relative to the ageing B-2. And presumably, if one were to peak under the hood, they would find upgraded hardware, computer and avionic systems that were befitting a twenty-first-century weapons project.
About the Author: Harrison KassHarrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.
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« Nous pensons avoir bien exécuté les travaux comme il se devait. Et nous attendons l'appréciation de la CAF pour nous dire s'il y a encore du travail à faire ou si toutes les normes édictées ont été respectées, afin de pouvoir procéder à l'ouverture du stade », a-t-il indiqué.
Il répondait aux questions de la presse à l'issue de son évaluation mi-parcours par le Premier ministre Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélèm de Tambèla, ce jeudi 8 août 2024, à Ouagadougou.
Selon Boubakar Savadogo, le ministère des Sports, de la jeunesse et de l'emploi a atteint un taux de réalisation de 35%.
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