B-2A Spirit Units in Combat

Osprey Combat Aircraft #64

by Thomas Withington, Chris Davey (Illustrator)

The B-2A 'Spirit' was an aircraft conceived to fight the Cold War (1946-1991) but which has proved invaluable to both the 'New World Order' and more recently the 'War on Terrorism'. The combination of low-observability, precision strike, range and payload flexibility has made the 'Spirit' the weapon of choice when America hits its enemies at the start of a campaign. Spirits have fired the first shots of Operation 'Allied Force' over Kosovo and Serbia, as well as operations 'Enduring Freedom' (2001-present) and 'Iraqi Freedom' (2003-present). Despite the tremendous cost of the aircraft – each unit is literally worth its weight in gold – the B-2 has had an impact on modern warfare which has vastly exceeded this small force of 21 bombers. Developed in utmost secrecy, the B-2's gestation saw the use of new computer design and manufacturing techniques and ultra-modern synthetic materials making it the most revolutionary aircraft in terms of design and performance. This book examines these incredible aircraft.

Genres: Aviation

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2006

Reviews

[Roy Szweda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent mini-tome in this series. It is packed with great information on the plane and its use. The author looks ahead to where the Spirit might go but this info is dating fast.
The problem for them for this format is that there is so little scope for artwork. IMHO this is not as photogenic as other bombers such as the Vulcan so don't expect a lot from the pix and art.
In summary I found a lot in this book I did not know and one thing is for sure, sadly, this is an amazing aircraft at just the beginning of its operational career.

[Keith Budzynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of the B-2A operations. I liked learning more about the development and maintenance. It is interesting that only 21 were built.