After more than thirty years of service, the sleek, bat-like B-2 stealth bomber continues to surge into the future as a heavily upgraded, relevant, and lethal war platform armed with a growing complement of weapons.
What Makes the B-2 Bomber So Special
B-2s flew operational missions in Kosovo, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan and are currently deploying to an Island off India called Diego Garcia in what seems to be a clear message from the Trump administration that Iran will be held accountable for its support for the Houthis.
The B-2 will continue to fly and operate with a wide range of performance-enhancing upgrades to ensure it remains highly effective against emerging advanced air defenses such as Chinese HQ-9s, Russian S-400s, and S-500s.
Various cutting-edge enhancements enable the B-2 to operate in extremely high-threat modern environments, such as the ongoing addition of new air-defense-detecting sensors, high-speed computing, and weapons applications.
In recent years, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman have been adding new sensors called Defensive Management Systems. These sensors have evolved into systems capable of identifying the locations of enemy threat areas. The DMS system helps pilot crews identify the location of air defenses to effectively avoid flying within their radar aperture or minimize the risk of exposure to ground fire.
Other B-2 enhancements involve collaborative efforts by the U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman to integrate new computer processing, which is 1,000-fold faster than existing or previous computers. While many details of the upgrades to the B-2 are understandably not available for security reasons, faster computing will significantly improve targeting, sensing, and networking with other platforms across a joint, multi-domain operational environment.
AI-related enhancements and gateways layer to enable data sharing across otherwise incompatible transport layers, such as RF signals, satellite-transmitted data, or other kinds of wireless technologies and datalinks, able to link the B-2 as a surveillance and target-sharing node across dispersed multi-domain formations.
B-2 Weapons
The B-2 is also quite different regarding weaponry, as it is now configured with new software, fire control enhancements, and interfaces to enable greater flexibility and a much more expansive arsenal.
The B-2 is also receiving weapons enhancements, such as the upgraded nuclear B-61 Mod 12 variant, a new variant of the decades-old B-61, which combines different variants into a single munition.
The “mod 12,” as it is called, combines the ability to drop earth-penetrating nuclear missions, above-ground area detonations, and lower-yield applications to tailor an atomic strike for a specific operational purpose. This precision allows a greater envelope of attack possibilities for a single bomb, increasing efficiency and removing the need to carry many variants.
The B-2 also has an extensive arsenal of nuclear and conventional bombs and cruise missiles, as it can drop a B83 free-fall nuclear bomb, Mk82 general-purpose bombs, and Mk 84 larger general-purpose bombs.
The aircraft can also drop various kinds of Joint Direct Attack Munition GPS-guided bombs, including the GBU-38, GBU-31, and GBU-28. Air-launched missiles are also part of its arsenal as it can fire an AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and AGM-158 JASSMs. The B-2 also fires the AGM-129 air-launched cruise missile.
B-2 Stealth
It also stands to reason that the B-2 has vastly improved stealth properties in thermal management, acoustical signature, and radar-absorbent coating materials. Indeed, many details related to stealth enhancements are not likely to be available for security reasons.
Yet, new technologies can undoubtedly decrease the aircraft’s “heat signature,” making it less detectable to radar and infrared sensors.
Should an internally buried engine emit a much smaller heat signature, the aircraft will fly at temperatures closer to the surrounding atmosphere, making it less detectable.
Newer composite materials may have been added, exhaust emissions have likely been adjusted, and weapons developers are almost certain to have devised new ways to suppress the aircraft’s electronic signature while still enabling communication.
A B-2 Spirit soars after a refueling mission over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, May 30, 2006. The B-2, from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., is part of a continuous bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)
B-2 Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
George Gordon Byron
April 16, 2025 at 6:29 am
I will add a fly in the ointment to the Author’s delight.
Some disadvantages of the B-2 aircraft:
1) High cost. Technical complexity and a small number of aircraft produced made the B-2 the most expensive in the world. Taking into account the costs of crew training, weapons, consumables and fuel, the cost of the aircraft goes far beyond the limits of production alone.
2) Complexity of operation. Due to a special coating, the aircraft requires a hangar with a microclimate, it cannot be stored simply outside, since the coating is destroyed by ultraviolet light.
3) Problems with the infrared range. Despite all the efforts of engineers, it was impossible to completely hide the hot jet exhaust. From some angles, the B-2 noticeably glows in the IR range.
4) Limited combat potential. The B-2’s main armament is free-fall nuclear and non-nuclear bombs, not cruise missiles. This means that the aircraft must fly directly to the target, which takes more time.
5) The impossibility of reaching key targets without completely overcoming the air defense system. Modern air defense systems (AD) are capable of detecting the B-2, just at a shorter range than if it were a regular aircraft.
PS “And otherwise, beautiful marquise, all is well, all is well.” Song. Author: French composer P. Mizraki (co-authored with Ch. Pasquier and A. Allum).