From his mission commander's seat in the B-2 on April 8, 1999, Major Tom Bussiere gazed out into the ink-black night sky

1. WHY IS THE B2 SUCH A BAD PLANE?
Fromhis mission commander's seatin the B-2 on April 8, 1999, Major Tom
Bussieregazed out into the ink-black night sky. Bussiere witnessed bursts of
lightning far below, rippling across the huge thunderstormclouds that filled the
entire horizon, as he pondered his destiny (at what height remains secret). Ithad
been a lengthy voyageto enemy airspace—14 hours nonstop—aswellas a
difficult few months. At the commencement of the Kosovo War, the B-2 pilots and
their maintainers were briefed to expect a two- or three-night bombing
campaign. This was the company's third month of 24-hour operations.
Then came a mission that was extremely perilous.
For the firsttime in history, two B-2 bombers weredispatched to breach enemy
airspaceon a wartime mission without the assistanceof any Allied support
aircraft. Despite the turbulent weather above Yugoslavia, essentialtargets must
be attacked. Itwas one thing for the B-2 pilots to fly at high altitude above the
weather and drop bombs, butit was quite another to dodgeopposing radar and

2. planes. The B-2 wasn'tinvisible to radar or the naked eye, but it was far more
difficult to locate and track.
“THE B-2 WAS FUTURISTIC—AND DOWNRIGHTSINISTER,” says theauthor.
In the same area just12 days before, an enemy surface-to-air missileshotdown a
US F-117, a jet with similar stealthy capabilities as the B-2. The good news was
that the two black jets were equipped with top-secretlow-observablestealth
technology as well as a combat load of Joint Directed Attack Munitions smart
bombs (JDAMs). Thebad news was that they were designed withoutany
defensivearmaments and lacked the speed to outrun hostile surface-to-air
missiles or aircraft. If the pilots were spotted and followed down by an enemy air
defence network or a MiG-29 fighter, they would almostcertainly die.
Bussiereaverted his gazefromthe stormy night and fixed it on his buddy
warfighter on the B-2's left seat. Over the intercom, he spokequietly and
determinedly. “Weapons check is finished; let's go; it's game time...” The other
pilot agreed with a nod. With his gloved left hand, Bussierepushed the “PEN”
(penetrate) button on the instrumentpanel dashboard edge, instantly setting the
aircraftto maximum stealth mode. The four pilots in each of the two jets began
securing their pistols, donning their survivalvests, and double-checking their
ejection seats as they prepared for action.
They were prepared for the moment, but they knew they'd need all the luck they
could muster tonight. They flew the two big bombers into the combat, feet dry in
enemy country, completely alone but unafraid.
A SURPRISEANNOUNCEMENTTHAT ASTOUNDED THEENTIRE WORLD
It's difficult to express the shock that the public felt when the B-2 was first
announced and displayed on November 22, 1988. TheB-2 was futuristic and scary
at the same time. While flying wing designs existed in both Germany and the
United States during WWII (both produced by Northrop), neither resembled the
gigantic black aircraftin any way other than basic outline.
By looking straight at the jet, you can see that the designers had a senseof
humour and a fondness for oneparticular film. While it's unlikely that Northrop's
B-2 designers werehuge fans of the 1977 blockbuster filmStar Wars and its anti-
hero Darth Vader, the cockpitshape is nearly identical to Vader's helmet.

3. In June 1979, thestealth bomber design team, which included Armenian-
American aircraftdesigner Hal Markarian, hand-drew the initial concepts for a B-2
"Configuration Study." They werelargely unknown to the outside world and didn't
venture out much during the heady years when they created the now-iconic jet's
plans. But one thing was certain: the otherworldly and revolutionary bomber
that emerged as a result of thoseefforts was pure science fiction, galactic evil,
and Pax Americana all rolled into one earthly weapons system.
Unfortunately, that was the program's high point in its early days. The B-2's future
was castin doubt after its announcementcaused such a stir around the world.
THE BOMBER WHO WAS NEXT TO BECOMING A BOMBER
The futuristic jet came dangerously closeto being cancelled in the early 1990s.
The Soviet Union, the B-2's No. 1 target, began crumbling in 1988, and the
socialist state had crumbled into bits a few years later. When the USSRfell apart,
the US tried to beat swords into ploughshares, which meantthe B-2, one of the
Pentagon's most expensivetargets, was on the chopping board. Even Republican
PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush attempted to sabotagethe B-2 programmein 1992.
Rather than being completely scrapped, the B-2's production was drastically cut.
The Department of Defenseonly purchased 20 bombers instead of the original
132. As a result, the B-2 is the world's mostexpensive aircraft, costing $2.2 billion
per plane. The flock would live even if it had been culled.
The B-52 Stratofortress: Why Is ItSuch a Badass Plane?
Fastforward to 1999, when Bussiere's two crews wereflying through Yugoslavian
airspacebeneath a strong air defence system. Sincethe B-2's initial operational
capability (IOC) in 1997, everyonein the programmehas been yearning to fight,
shakeoff the title of "airshow queen," and show the public whatthe super-secret
bomber could do in battle. That opportunity arosefromthe Kosovo War.
While the B-2 was built to go deep into the Soviet Union and drop nuclear gravity
bombs, it was later modified in the mid-1990s to incorporatea conventional
bomb drop capacity of 20 tons—a combat load bigger than either the B-1 or the
iconic B-52 bomber.

4. Key participants began preparing the stealth bomber for combatas part of the
upcoming NATO air operation againstSerbia as Whiteman Air Force Base buzzed
with activity. The jet's radar absorbentmaterials (RAM) were well-maintained,
and planners knew how to utilise the jet's low observableproperties in order to
negotiate the safestcoursethrough a denseair-defense system; and pilots
understood the demands of 30-plus hours of non-stop flight, including multiple
refueling missions.