Summary and Key Points: Despite the much-anticipated arrival of the B-21 Raider, the U.S. Air Force is ensuring the B-2 bomber remains a formidable force.
B-2 Bomber Elephant Walk. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-With a fleet of just 19 B-2s, the service is upgrading the aircraft with advanced sensors, high-speed computing, and enhanced weapons systems, such as the B-61 Mod 12 nuclear bomb.
-These upgrades are designed to keep the B-2 effective against modern threats like China’s HQ-9 and Russia’s S-400 and S-500 air defenses.
-The B-2 will continue to play a critical role in U.S. military operations until sufficient numbers of B-21 bombers are operational.
How the B-2 Spirit Bomber Stays Ahead of the Competition
It might seem like the stealthy, bat-winged B-2 bomber is slightly eclipsed by the celebrated and much-anticipated arrival of the Air Force’s new B-21 bomber.
Yet, the service continues to take vigorous measures to ensure the small fleet of 19 B-2 bombers remains relevant, highly lethal, and important to future operations.
The first and perhaps most pressing reason for this can be understood in terms of timing and fleet size, as the Air Force has long planned to ensure the B-2 remains effective and flies alongside the B-21 until sufficient numbers of the new B-21 Raider arrive.
While the Air Force is planning to add at least 100 B-21s, the aircraft will, of course, arrive incrementally over a number of years, and the Air Force cannot leave itself vulnerable with a problematic bomber deficit.
In recent years, senior Air Force leaders have been clear that, even at current and anticipated levels for the immediate future, there are not enough bombers to meet Combatant Commander demand.
This means the B-2 will not only continue to fly but operate with a wide range of performance-enhancing upgrades to ensure it remains highly effective against emerging advanced air defenses such as Chinese HQ-9s, Russian S-400s, and S-500s.
A U.S. Air Force Maj. B-2 pilot marshals a B-2 Spirit bomber, deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of Valiant Shield 24, June 13, 2024. The speed, flexibility, and readiness of our strategic bombers plays a critical role in our ability to deter potential adversaries and signal our unwavering support to our allies and partners. Counter-maritime missions provide valuable training opportunities to improve our interoperability and demonstrate that our forces are capable of operating anywhere, anytime, to meet any challenge decisively. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kristen Heller)
There is a variety of cutting-edge enhancements intended to enable the B-2’s ability to operate in extremely high-threat modern environments, such as the ongoing addition of new, air-defenses detecting sensors, high-speed computing, and weapons applications.
In recent years, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman have been adding new sensors called Defensive Management Systems, which help pilot crews identify the location of air defenses so as to effectively avoid flying within their radar aperture or minimize the risk of exposure to ground fire.
B-2 Computing and Weapons
Other B-2 enhancements involve U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman collaborative efforts to integrate new computer processing, which is 1,000-fold faster than existing or previous computers. While many additional details regarding upgrades to the B-2 are understandably not likely to be available for security reasons, faster computing will significantly improve targeting, sensing, and networking with other platforms across a joint, multi-domain operational environment.
There may be AI-related enhancements and gateways added to enable data sharing across otherwise incompatible transport layers such as RF signals, satellite-transmitted data, or other kinds of wireless technologies and datalinks able to link the B-2 as a surveillance and target-sharing “node” across dispersed multi-domain formations.
The B-2 is also receiving weapons enhancements, such as the upgraded nuclear B-61 Mod 12 variant, a new variant of the decades-old B-61, which combines different variants into a single munition.
The “mod 12,” as it is called, combines the ability to drop earth-penetrating nuclear missions, above-ground “area” detonations, and lower-yield applications to tailor an atomic strike for a specific operational purpose. This allows a greater envelope of attack possibilities for a single bomb, increasing efficiency and removing the need to carry many variants.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University
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