Why B-2 spirit/Stealth Bomber project became subject controversial in USA during 1980?
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (also known as the Stealth Bomber) is an American heavy bomber with “low observable” stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses and deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. Because of its considerable capital and operations costs, the project was controversial in Congress and among Pentagon brass. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress slashed initial plans to purchase 132 bombers to just 21. The Northrop design received the designation B-2 and the name “Spirit”. The bomber’s design was changed in the mid-1980s when the mission profile was changed from high-altitude to low-altitude, terrain-following. The redesign delayed the B-2’s first flight by two years and added about US$1 billion to the program’s cost.[7] An estimated US$23 billion was secretly spent for research and development on the B-2 by 1989.[11] At the program’s peak, approximately 13,000 people were employed at a dedicated plant in Pico Rivera, Calif
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (also known as the Stealth Bomber) is a multirole heavy bomber with \\\”low observable\\\” stealth technology capable of penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses to deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. Because of its astronomical capital and operations costs, the project was controversial in Congress and among Pentagon brass during its development and placement into service. In time, Congress scaled back initial plans to purchase 132 of the bombers. By the early 1990s the United States elected to purchase just 21 of the bombers at US$737 million per aircraft. Total program cost averaged US$2.1 billion per aircraft in 1997 dollars.The B-2 is operated exclusively by the United States Air Force with none in the Air Force Reserves. Though originally designed in the 1980s for Cold War operations scenarios, B-2s have been used in combat to drop bombs on Kosovo in the late 1990s, and see continued use during the ongoing Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Fea
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (also known as the Stealth Bomber) is an American heavy bomber with “low observable” stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses and deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. Because of its considerable capital and operations costs, the project was controversial in Congress and among Pentagon brass. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress slashed initial plans to purchase 132 bombers to just 21. The Northrop design received the designation B-2 and the name “Spirit”. The bomber’s design was changed in the mid-1980s when the mission profile was changed from high-altitude to low-altitude, terrain-following.
