Nov. Rollout Set for Super-Secret Stealth Bomber

The revolutionary Stealth bomber, a “flying wing” built to strike deep into the Soviet Union while avoiding radar detection, will be unveiled for the first time in November in California, the Pentagon said today.

The Defense Department also announced the dimensions of the super-secret nuclear bomber, officially designated the B-2, and said it will carry a crew of only two--a pilot and an electronics officer.

The B-52 bomber requires a crew of six and the new B-1B bomber is flown by a crew of four.

The plane, which is only 69 feet long but stretches approximately 172 feet from wing-tip to wing-tip, will be rolled out at the Palmdale plant of Northrop Corp. in mid-November, the Pentagon said.

No specific date was given, but the Stealth is expected to make its first flight shortly after the rollout to the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, about 45 miles from Palmdale.

An artist’s concept released by the Pentagon earlier this year showed a moderately V-shaped plane which was all wing, no fuselage and no tail.

“The unique shape of the ‘flying wing’ design results in an aircraft that is only slightly longer than an F-15 fighter, yet has a wingspan almost as wide as a B-52,” the Defense Department said today.

Will Replace B-1 Bomber

The B-2, built of composite materials to absorb rather than reflect radar signals, is expected to replace the B-1 intercontinental bomber in the U.S. arsenal beginning in the mid-1990s.

The Defense Department confirmed today that the Air Force plans to buy 132 of the planes and said that six will be initially built for flight testing purposes. Five of those will become operational later.

While costs of the aircraft are shrouded in secrecy in the Pentagon’s so-called “black programs,” published reports have indicated the plane could cost as much as $450 million each, or more than $50 billion for the program.

Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said earlier that the plane will put targets in the Soviet Union at risk and “render obsolete billions of dollars of Soviet investments in their current air defense.”