fishingninjawolf
IMG_1135
This photo was given to us by friend neighbor and adopted elder Ray Dryden
The B-2 Spirit bomber was revealed to the publics genral knowlege on November 22 1988. The largest imact the development of this bomber had on technological warfare was the capability of deploying atomic weaponry, in addition to other explosives, at super sonic speeds. Its development began in 1981 under the highest secretive protections*. The need for such an aircraft began durring the onset of the atomic revolution at the end of the cold war. Although an atomic device can be delivered by a 280mm cannon (rivaled by the 203mm soviet atomic artilery), by far the most accurate and portable method of delivery has been by air**. Aircaft were desired to engage in nuclear "hit and run" tactics**. After the soviet russia developped its own nuclear weapons the desire turned to desperate need. The advantage given by offensive nuclear aircarft are above ground detonations**. The theory behind an "air burst"** is to use the relative height of the explosion to angle the thermal energy into enemy entrenchment**. Fallout from a nuclear device always harbors a lethal threat to friend and foe alike. Yet the crew of the air craft is able to reduce fallout by adjusting the altitude of the detonation. A high altitude nuclear detonation can deliver less of a threat to friendly forces should the winds shift yet also produces less of a heat attack on the enemy. low altitude detonations deliver a severe thermal attack yet a higher fall out as well**. Yet both aerial attacks yeild a far lesser fall out then a subterrainial nuclear explosion which produces a radioactive crater and fall out radius of hundreds of miles, as in the case of Chernobyl. This however was not the case durring the early days of atomic development. Generals had a dfficult time in finding competant personel for the use of atomic weaponry as the science had arrived with little means of instruction. Also the budding fission technology was far less powerfull than thermo-nuclear technology, thus it would take several nuclear weapons to fully destroy an industrial facility or millitary instilation. The main concept for immeadiate use of nuclear arms for offensive use was the psychological impact as well as the physical poison of fall-out****. The development of this aircraft was stimulated by the B-1A bomber of the early 1970's, later replaced by the more familiar B-1B, which was mimiced by the russian TU-160 Blackjack. the main tactical difference between the B-2 spirit and the B-1(A&B) was that the B-2 lacked the fuselage lenght to deploy a cruise missle*. Earlier bomber models, such as the B-9 had been acredated with being the first bomber with a retrcatable landing gear giving it the ability to attain top speeds of one hundred and eighty eight miles per hour***. The B-2 maximum speed remains classified, what has been released is that the maximum thrust power of the engines is 7864Kg or 17300lb each counting the four together maximum strength reaches 69200lbs or 31456Kg****. By far the slowest atomic bomber is the B-52 stratofortress which has beenin operation since 1955, its maximum speed is only six hundred and fifty miles an hour. Yet this aging mastadon still packs a punch, the maximum payload for this aircraft is twenty seven internal weapons (bombs) and eighteen external (also bombs)****. The B-52 is clearly intended for secondary deployment to follow attacks by much faster jets. With the combined ceiling altitude of 50,000 feet and weight of the explosives this aircraft would be capable of delivering a detonation powerful enough to turn an entire provence into a crater****. However, without knowing the average weight of the aircraft it is completly impossible to judge its maximum velocity. The secrecy on this matter implicates that the value that the B-2 is continuing to play in the evolution of nuclear air power technology.
Julie Veilleux, "Rays B-2 Bomber Portrait Gift," digital Photo, 2008, Veilleux family collection, Peachtree city, Georgia, United States of America,
*Steve Crawford, _Twenty-First Century WARPLANES The Worlds most Potent Military Aircraft_ (Saint Paul: MBI publishing company, 2002) 58.
**Theodore C. Mataxix, Seymour L. Goldberg, _Nuclear Tactics_ (Harrisburg, The millitary service publishing company, 1958)
***David Brown,_The Guiness history of Air Warfare_(Norwich: Guinness Superlatives Limited,1976) 72.
****Robert A. Pape,_Bombing to Win_(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996) 167
*****Maj. Gen. G. I. Pokrovsky., "Science and Technology in Contemporary War," Technology and culture 287, (1959), www.jstor.org/view/0040165x/sp030003/03x151u/0
IMG_1135
This photo was given to us by friend neighbor and adopted elder Ray Dryden
The B-2 Spirit bomber was revealed to the publics genral knowlege on November 22 1988. The largest imact the development of this bomber had on technological warfare was the capability of deploying atomic weaponry, in addition to other explosives, at super sonic speeds. Its development began in 1981 under the highest secretive protections*. The need for such an aircraft began durring the onset of the atomic revolution at the end of the cold war. Although an atomic device can be delivered by a 280mm cannon (rivaled by the 203mm soviet atomic artilery), by far the most accurate and portable method of delivery has been by air**. Aircaft were desired to engage in nuclear "hit and run" tactics**. After the soviet russia developped its own nuclear weapons the desire turned to desperate need. The advantage given by offensive nuclear aircarft are above ground detonations**. The theory behind an "air burst"** is to use the relative height of the explosion to angle the thermal energy into enemy entrenchment**. Fallout from a nuclear device always harbors a lethal threat to friend and foe alike. Yet the crew of the air craft is able to reduce fallout by adjusting the altitude of the detonation. A high altitude nuclear detonation can deliver less of a threat to friendly forces should the winds shift yet also produces less of a heat attack on the enemy. low altitude detonations deliver a severe thermal attack yet a higher fall out as well**. Yet both aerial attacks yeild a far lesser fall out then a subterrainial nuclear explosion which produces a radioactive crater and fall out radius of hundreds of miles, as in the case of Chernobyl. This however was not the case durring the early days of atomic development. Generals had a dfficult time in finding competant personel for the use of atomic weaponry as the science had arrived with little means of instruction. Also the budding fission technology was far less powerfull than thermo-nuclear technology, thus it would take several nuclear weapons to fully destroy an industrial facility or millitary instilation. The main concept for immeadiate use of nuclear arms for offensive use was the psychological impact as well as the physical poison of fall-out****. The development of this aircraft was stimulated by the B-1A bomber of the early 1970's, later replaced by the more familiar B-1B, which was mimiced by the russian TU-160 Blackjack. the main tactical difference between the B-2 spirit and the B-1(A&B) was that the B-2 lacked the fuselage lenght to deploy a cruise missle*. Earlier bomber models, such as the B-9 had been acredated with being the first bomber with a retrcatable landing gear giving it the ability to attain top speeds of one hundred and eighty eight miles per hour***. The B-2 maximum speed remains classified, what has been released is that the maximum thrust power of the engines is 7864Kg or 17300lb each counting the four together maximum strength reaches 69200lbs or 31456Kg****. By far the slowest atomic bomber is the B-52 stratofortress which has beenin operation since 1955, its maximum speed is only six hundred and fifty miles an hour. Yet this aging mastadon still packs a punch, the maximum payload for this aircraft is twenty seven internal weapons (bombs) and eighteen external (also bombs)****. The B-52 is clearly intended for secondary deployment to follow attacks by much faster jets. With the combined ceiling altitude of 50,000 feet and weight of the explosives this aircraft would be capable of delivering a detonation powerful enough to turn an entire provence into a crater****. However, without knowing the average weight of the aircraft it is completly impossible to judge its maximum velocity. The secrecy on this matter implicates that the value that the B-2 is continuing to play in the evolution of nuclear air power technology.
Julie Veilleux, "Rays B-2 Bomber Portrait Gift," digital Photo, 2008, Veilleux family collection, Peachtree city, Georgia, United States of America,
*Steve Crawford, _Twenty-First Century WARPLANES The Worlds most Potent Military Aircraft_ (Saint Paul: MBI publishing company, 2002) 58.
**Theodore C. Mataxix, Seymour L. Goldberg, _Nuclear Tactics_ (Harrisburg, The millitary service publishing company, 1958)
***David Brown,_The Guiness history of Air Warfare_(Norwich: Guinness Superlatives Limited,1976) 72.
****Robert A. Pape,_Bombing to Win_(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996) 167
*****Maj. Gen. G. I. Pokrovsky., "Science and Technology in Contemporary War," Technology and culture 287, (1959), www.jstor.org/view/0040165x/sp030003/03x151u/0