The B-2 Spirit has received several updates to its platform within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Bombers Directorate. These updates happen continuously to ensure the B-2 fleet remains operational until the B-21 Raider is fielded.
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Few aircraft are as iconic as the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber, captivating audiences wherever it flies. Designed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during the height of the Cold War, its purpose was to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace, operating independently to destroy critical strategic targets.
The B-2 reached Initial Operational Capability on January 1, 1997, and had its combat debut in the Kosovo War, supporting Operation Allied Force. The aircraft accounts for less than one percent of the Department of Defense’s budget and conducted less than 10 percent of combat sorties yet dropped 62 percent of the total munitions used.
A dedicated team ensures this strategic platform remains ready, effective, and survivable every time the Nation calls: this is the mission of the B-2 System Program Office (SPO). Divided between Wright-Patterson and Tinker Air Force Bases, the B-2 SPO manages everything from sustaining the aircraft to delivering new capabilities to ensure the B-2 has the latest technology.
The B-2 Advanced Program Branch is highly focused on modernizing the aircraft’s communications and survivability. This is important because speed matters. Rapidly and frequently providing modernization capabilities keeps the B-2 ahead of emerging threats.
“A lot of people talk about the B-2 as a legacy platform and that is incorrect: it is an operational platform conducting strikes today and if the flag goes up tomorrow, it will be one of the first platforms to conduct strikes,” says Lt Col Robert Allen, Materiel Leader for the B-2 Advanced Programs Branch. “That is why it is critical for this SPO to deliver novel capabilities to ensure our operators can aviate, navigate, communicate, strike their targets, and get home safely.”