Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Crashes – Pilots Ejected

Ordinarily we would not post about an aircraft crashing but when the aircraft happens to be a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber valued at a staggering $1.2 billion each its quite another matter – and we should stress that, happily, both pilots are reported as having ejected safely.

Photo Credit: AP

According to reports the B-2 Spirit, one of only 21 in operation, crashed on Saturday at the US Air Force base on Guam – the aircraft was from the 509th Bomb Wing based at Whiteman Air Force Base. A US spokesperson refused to be drawn on why the stealth bombers were operating in the region though it is known that B-2 deployments to Guam are designed to boost the US military presence in the Asia Pacific region.

Little is known about the incident except that the B-2, which was part of a three ship formation flying for the last time out of Guam at the end of a four month deployment, crashed shortly after taking off and that the aircraft is sufficiently damaged to be a complete write-off.

Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber General Specifications:

Crew: 2
Length: 69 ft (21 m)
Wingspan: 172 ft (52.4 m)
Height: 17 ft (5.2 m)
Wing area: 5,000 ft² (460 m²)
Empty weight: 158,000 lb (71.7 t)
Loaded weight: 336,500 lb (152.6 t)
Max takeoff weight: 376,000 lb (171.0 t)
Powerplant: 4× General Electric F118-GE-100 turbofans, 17,300 lbf (77 kN) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 410 knots (760 km/h, 470 mph)
Range: 5,600 nm (10,400 km, 6,400 mi)
Service ceiling 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Wing loading: 67.3 lb/ft² (329 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.205

Armament (2 internal bays for 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) of ordnance):

80× 500 lb class bombs (Mk-82) mounted on Bomb Rack Assembly (BRA)
36× 750 lb CBU class bombs on BRA
16× 2000 lb class weapons (Mk-84, JDAM-84, JDAM-102) mounted on Rotary Launcher Assembly (RLA)
16× B61 or B83 nuclear weapons on RLA

According to further reports as a result of the incident the entire B-2 Spirit fleet has now been grounded pending investigation.

[via]