Air Force Lifts Secrecy Veil on Stealth Bomber

The Air Force today dropped the veil of secrecy surrounding its Stealth bomber, releasing a picture of the new craft and announcing it will make its maiden flight this fall in California.

As previously disclosed by former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), the new long-range strategic bomber resembles a “flying wing” with the cockpit and engine inlets sitting on top of it.

The service, in a brief statement, said the plane will “ensure our capability to effectively penetrate Soviet defenses well into the 21st Century. . . .

“The first flight of the Advanced Technology Bomber, or B-2, is currently scheduled for this fall,” the service said.

Its maiden flight will be from its final assembly facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base, where further flight testing will be conducted.

The prime contractor for the craft is the Northrop Corp.

Avoids Radar Detection

The Air Force has designated the new plane the B-2, but it has been known since development began in the 1970s as the Stealth. The nickname stems from its stated goal of being able to fly anywhere in the world without being detected by radar.

The photograph distributed by the Air Force today, based on an artist’s rendering, shows an airplane without a conventional fuselage. The craft resembles to some extent a boomerang with sharp leading edges. A small cockpit rises in the middle on top of the wing and inlets for the jet engines are placed to each side of the cockpit.

The flying wing design allows the aircraft to be fabricated without any sharp or right angles. According to Pentagon sources, the plane also relies on the use of radar-absorbing coatings on its exterior surfaces and composite materials for construction.

The service, in its statement today, also acknowledged the cost of building 132 Stealth bombers would probably rise beyond initial estimates of $36.6 billion.