Known as an engineering marvel, the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber continues to showcase American air superiority. Teamwork between Northrop Grumman—the prime contractor—with the U.S. Air Force ensures that the B-2 can carry out its sustained mission capability against evolving global threats. A series of upgrade programs is significantly improving the B-2’s lethality and battlefield information processing capabilities.
The B-2 Spirit entered service as the first radar-evading bomber when it made its first flight on July 17, 1989. More than thirty years since then, Northrop Grumman teams and the Air Force are still pushing the boundaries of innovation on the B-2 so the aircraft can meet challenges yet to come. Not long ago, the B-2 program reached a significant milestone with the introduction of Spirit Realm 1, a functional agile integrated capability. SR 1 enables bomber communications and weapons through the provision of an open mission systems architecture, which directly increases the lethality of the bomber.
Jerry McBrearty, Northrop Grumman director and acting program manager for the B-2, emphasized the rapid fielding of capabilities with zero software defects—all through the software factory development ecosystem. This is an agile framework enabling the Air Force’s initiative to help the aircraft adapt new capabilities and support mission readiness.
SR 1 includes new displays, flight hardware, and updates that make the B-2 more survivable. Developed within the B-2 Spirit Realm software factory—a partnership with Air Force Global Strike Command and the B-2 Systems Program Office—the SR 1 has made the B-2 the very first legacy nuclear platform to make use of the Department of Defense’s DevSecOps processes and digital toolsets. According to Colonel Frank Marino, U.S. Air Force senior materiel leader and B-2 systems program manager, the software factory is laying the groundwork for the B-2 to carry future weapons and advanced capabilities that will continue to strengthen the nation’s strategic deterrence.
Northrop Grumman persists in staying ahead of threats by delivering new capabilities at the pace of the evolving battlespace—in close collaboration with the U.S. Air Force. The B-2 is capable of penetrating complex air defenses and delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions, making it a very powerful capability. Its operational radius of 6,000 nautical miles with only a two-man crew makes the B-2 a robust, effective deterrent and combat force well into the 21st century.
In another development, Northrop Grumman is going to unveil the B-21 Raider, the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft, on 2 December at its Palmdale, California site. The B-21 will join the nation’s strategic triad with an offering of long range, high survivability, and mission payload flexibility. It will penetrate the toughest defenses for precision strikes anywhere in the world, thus being the next evolution of the Air Force strategic bomber fleet.
The B-21 Raider builds upon more than three decades of strike and stealth technology, with mature networking and an open systems architecture that will be integral to ensuring the Air Force meets the nation’s most complex missions. Northrop Grumman incorporates the very latest manufacturing techniques and materials to ensure the B-21 defeats anti-access, area-denial systems.
The B-21 is designed for rapid upgradeability, where new technology, capabilities, and weapons will seamlessly be incorporated through agile software upgrades and built-in hardware flexibility. This ensures that for decades into the future, the B-21 Raider can continue satisfying evolutive threats with no problem. The B-21 team consists of more than 8,000 people from Northrop Grumman, industry partners, and the Air Force, with more than 400 suppliers across 40 states.
The name of the B-21 Raider recognizes the Doolittle Raid of World War II, aimed at replicating the spirit of those 80 airmen under Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle. That daring mission symbolized a turnaround in U.S. air superiority and named the B-21 Raider. The B-21 will serve as the foundation of the U.S. bomber force and will help the nation to execute its strategy of strategic deterrence through flexibility and deterrence, which are important in ensuring security for both the U.S. and its allies.