Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is an American strategic bomber. It is designed to get through many anti-aircraft defenses. It can drop both conventional and nuclear bombs. Up to 80 500 lb (230 kg)-class JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs, can be dropped by such bombers.

B-2 Spirit
A B-2 Spirit from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., flies over an undisclosed location in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations.
Role	Strategic stealth bomber
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Northrop Grumman Northrop Corporation
First flight	17 July 1989
Introduction	April 1997
Status	In service
Primary user	United States Air Force
Produced	1988‒2000
Number built	21[1][2]
Program cost	US$44.75 billion (through 2004)[3]
Unit cost	$737 million[3] (1997)

Overview

B-2 bomber schematic diagram

The bomber was designed as an "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) under the Carter government. The development continued under the Reagan government. The bomber is made by Northrop Grumman. Each aircraft cost US$737 million (in 1997 dollars).^[3]

Operations

A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit over the Pacific Ocean in May 2006.

Calif. --KC-46 refuels the B-2 for the first time during developmental flight test over Edwards AFB and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Apr. 23, 2019.

The B-2 bombers was first used against Serbia in the 1999 Kosovo War, later in the Iraq War.^[4] In 2023, it landed for the first time in Europe – leaving Norway after training with NATO forces.^{[5][better source needed]}

Operation Midnight Hammer

President Trump delivers his announcement

In the early morning of June 22, 2025, seven USAF B-2 bombers^[6] conducted the "Operation Midnight Hammer" to bomb Iran's Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites.^[6] They dropped 30,000 pounds of bunker busters, followed by two Tomahawk missile strikes on the Isfahan nuclear site, marking the first use of such bombs^[7] and the largest B-2 bomber mission in history ‒ involving 125 aircraft when fighter jets and refueling planes are counted in.^[8] Trump said that the Iranian nuclear sites had been "completely and totally obliterated".^[7][9]

GBU-57 MOP of the type used in the operation

Issues

The bomber is reportedly expensive, sparking controversies in the U.S. Congress, which initially wanted 132 bombers, but reduced it to 21 in the 1990s.^[source?] In 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff. The crew got out safely.^[10] 20 B-2s are being used by the United States Air Force.