Military

How Much Firepower Can a Stealth Bomber Carry?

Drew Wood

Published: February 1, 2025 10:32 am

Last Updated: February 1, 2025 11:11 am

The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is without a doubt the pinnacle of airpower. Designed to penetrate enemy defenses undetected, it can carry a devastating arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons. It’s no exaggeration to say that, going full-on nuclear mode, a single B-2 could win a war with most countries single-handedly. Here’s just how much firepower this ultimate bad boy can rain from the sky

Purpose

The B-2 was designed for an essential defense mission as part of the U.S. strategic nuclear triad. This strategy gives the country the option of responding to a nuclear attack with land-based ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, or air-delivered nuclear payloads. This ensures that no enemy can disarm the country in a surprise attack without having justice dealt back to them in an apocalyptic counter-attack.

Development Delays

Design and development of the B-2 Spirit started in 1979 during the Carter administration. Due to the cost of the project and different perspectives in Congress about military spending, it was controversial and took 18 years to come fully online in the U.S. Air Force fleet in 1997. By then, the Soviet Union had collapsed and the need for stealth bombers was less urgent.

Cost of the Program

No doubt, the stealth bomber program was one of the most expensive military development projects the U.S. has ever undertaken. Research and development cost $23 billion by the time The B-2 Spirit had its first flight in 1989. Ultimately, the government built 21 of them at an average cost of $2.13 billion each, including R&D and all other procurement costs, for a total price tag of $44.7 billion.

Stealth Capabilities

Every aspect of the stealth bomber’s design was engineered for aerodynamics and stealth capabilities. The shape and materials of the aircraft minimize its radar cross-section, making it nearly invisible to enemy radar systems. The bomber’s structure is classified, but we know it is made of composite materials and metal alloys to make it more lightweight. Its skin has a ceramic coating to absorb radar waves rather than reflecting them back.

Why Is It Black?

Seeing the black, angular outline of a stealth bomber contrasted with the sky is a surreal experience. Nothing in the sky looks more futuristic and ominous. It’s not black just to make it cool and scary, though. The specially-formulated paint absorbs radar waves and dissipates the craft’s heat signatures, making it less detectable. And, while it stands out against the daytime sky unmistakably, at night it becomes invisible to the eye.

Payload Capacity

Adaptability for different types of missions was one of the goals of the stealth bomber program. The B-2 Spirit can handle conventional or nuclear payloads through two internal weapons bays with a total capacity of 40,000 pounds. These are versatile so that the aircraft can carry a combination of different types of weapons.

Conventional Armaments

JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munition) are one of the Air Force’s preferred conventional armaments for the B-2. Weighing about 500 pounds each, these GPS-guided conventional bombs can be used for precise airstrikes on targets on land or at sea. The Spirit can carry up to 80 of them.

Nuclear Armaments

The stealth bomber can also carry B61 and B83 nuclear bombs. These are the primary gravity bombs in the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The older of the two, the B61, has been called a “dial-a-yield bomb,” as the explosive power can be adjusted to anywhere from 0.3 to 400 kilotons. The B-83 has a maximum yield of 1.2 megatons and is currently the most powerful nuclear weapon in the American arsenal.

Notable Missions

The stealth bomber has performed successfully in some of the United States’ most intense recent conflicts.

• Serbia (1999) – In Operation Allied Force, B-2s destroyed 33 percent of all Serbian targets destroyed in the first 8 weeks of the conflict.
• Afghanistan (2001) – The B-2 was one of the first aircraft used at the start of the Afghanistan War, flying all the way from Missouri nonstop to and from the conflict zone.
• Iraq (2003) – During this war, B-2s dropped over 1.5 million pounds of munitions, the most intense bombardment carried out by the aircraft to date.

The B-21 Raider

The United States plans to replace the B-2 Spirit and several other aircraft in its fleet with the B-21 Raider. One of its advancements is the ability to perform manned or unmanned missions. It had its first flight in November 2023 and will enter service by 2040. The U.S. Air Force says it will procure at least 100 of them but some analysts believe that number should be twice as high, considering the geostrategic environment. Like the B-2, the cost of the B-21 works out to about $2 billion apiece, when research and development is included.

The size of the American investment in stealth bombers shows just how game-changing military planners believe this technology to be, underscored by the superiority the B-2 has shown in real life combat missions.