Originally published: August 2017
This
weekend, I had the opportunity to witness several passes over
Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base made by a B-2 Spirit, more commonly
known as the Stealth Bomber. The aircraft’s presence was certainly a
highlight of the Thunder Over Dover airshow.
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| The Northrop Grumman B-2 “Spirit of California” over Delaware, August 26, 2017. |
I have
always been fascinated by the realm of secret aircraft development,
to the extent of climbing Nevada’s Tikaboo Peak so I could see the
notorious Area 51 with my own eyes – while creating a promotional
video for my band at the time, Third Stone Invasion. I’ve also read a
number of books about the famed Lockheed Skunk Works, where
revolutionary planes like the SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 Nighthawk
were developed in need-to-know secrecy.
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| Commemorative artwork depicting the top-secret glories of the Skunk Works’ past. |
The
problem with those books is that they all tend to feature the radical angles of the F-117 on
their covers. Understandable, as the F-117 stealth attack aircraft is one of the wildest-looking
planes to ever fly. But state of the art? Consider that the F-117 has
been retired from service for almost a decade.
As the
ominous B-2 flew over my head the other day, I couldn’t help but
wonder, “What’s next?” After all, this specific aircraft was the
Spirit of California, the second B-2 to enter into service. That
happened almost 25 years ago.
It had
been some time since I’d looked into developments in this realm, so
spurred on by my B-2 encounter I wanted to find out if there was
speculation about military aviation being on the verge of wild, radically
intimidating new designs.
 |
| Screen grab from a 2014 promotional video created by Lockheed to call attention to Skunk Works activities. |
What I
found was evidence of highly-advanced but incremental progress. The
emergence of the F-117 after growing familiar with the planes of the
1950s, 60s, and 70s was startling. But a similar aesthetic shock does
not seem to be in store. Lockheed, now publicly promoting its Skunk
Works with its very own website – Click here to visit Skunk Works website –
presents a video in which the concept of “collaborative systems”
is stressed, combining manned and unmanned aircraft. Several of the
concepts seen in the video call to mind the spooky shape of the B-2.
 |
| Artist conception of the B-21 Raider, with the “21” reflecting the 21st Century. |
As for
the B-2 itself, its successor is to be the B-21 Raider, both aircraft built
by Northrop Grumman. The B-21 is expected to enter into service in
2025, while B-2s will continue to be flown well beyond that date.
Surely
there are amazing technologies lurking beneath the skin of the B-21,
but what’s most interesting on the surface is how much it looks like
the B-2. It seems that in this case, they got it right the first
time.
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