Stealth Bombers Make Impression

The B-2 Stealth bomber made its combat debut Wednesday, dropping 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs on targets in Yugoslavia. The missions came more than a decade after the $2-billion bat-winged plane first rolled out into public view.

Built to unleash nuclear weapons on the former Soviet Union, the B-2 instead participated as a small part of a conventional attack on one of Moscow’s longtime allies.

Flying nonstop across an ocean and two continents, a pair of B-2s, each carrying 16 precision-guided weapons, attacked multiple “hardened” targets, including command bunkers and air-defense systems, according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In a strike that consisted mainly of $1-million cruise missiles that could be launched without endangering U.S. and allied pilots, the B-2s slipped inside Yugoslavia’s formidable air-defense system, dropped their weapons and escaped unscathed, defense officials said.

“The air-defense system in Yugoslavia is very capable, and it poses a considerable threat,” said Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Added Defense Secretary William S. Cohen: “The aircraft performed according to its capabilities.”

Use of the B-2 marked a culmination of sorts for a weapons system that became a lightning rod for debate over defense spending since the Reagan administration.

If Cohen’s comment sounded a bit terse, that’s no accident. When he was a senator, he once remarked that sending a B-2 into battle would be like dispatching “a Rolls-Royce to pick up groceries in a combat zone.”

Within the Air Force, there was nothing but elation.

Total cost for a fleet of 21 B-2s is expected to be $44 billion. The plane is built by Century City-based Northrop Grumman Corp.

The plane first was seen by the public in November 1988 in a much-ballyhooed roll-out ceremony.

Since then, technical problems have plagued the bomber: A radar system had difficulty distinguishing mountain ranges from clouds; radar-absorbent paint wore off too quickly; wing skins developed holes; and ejection seats failed to work properly.

Congressional boosters of the B-2 failed repeatedly to expand the program beyond the planned 21 aircraft.

The radar-evading planes took off in the early morning hours Wednesday from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, flew more than 13 hours with several midair refuelings, spent several hours loitering over and then attacking multiple targets and then flew directly back to Whiteman.

They were due back home early today.

The senior defense official said the B-2 was selected because of its heavy payload--by comparison, the F-117 Stealth bomber, also used Wednesday, carries two bombs--its ability to attack multiple targets and its ability to drop weapons precisely at night and in all weather conditions.

The satellite-guidance system on the B-2’s conventional bombs can direct the explosive to a target without any visible contact or laser-designator.

With only a pilot and co-pilot aboard, the B-2 also puts fewer crew members at risk than B-52s, which unleashed cruise missiles from launch points outside Yugoslavia.

B-2s can be shot down--if they are seen by enemy ground crews or fighter aircraft.

Such a development would be seen as a full-blown calamity for the military: The pair of B-2 bombers used Wednesday cost almost as much as a Navy aircraft carrier.

The Air Force has been anxious to prove the weapon’s worth but leery of the consequences of a loss.

Conceived in the 1970s, the B-2 only became operational in 1997 after the Air Force and Northrop dealt with spiraling budgets and emerging technical problems. The conversion of the plane from a nuclear bomber to one with conventional capability further delayed the program.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Tools of War

NATO weapons used Wednesday ranged from unmanned Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships to sophisticated B-2 Stealth bombers, being used in combat for the first time.

B-52

Length: 161 ft.

Height: 40 ft., 8 in.

Wingspan: 185 ft.

Maximum speed: 595 mph

Maximum altitude: over 50,000 ft.

B-2 Stealth bomber

Length: 69 ft.

Height: 17 ft.

Wingspan: 172 FT.

Maximum speed: high subsonic

Maximum altitude: 50,000 ft.

Prowler

Length: 59 ft.

Height: 15 ft.

Wingspan: 53 ft.

Maximum speed: 0.99 mach

Maximum altitude: 40,000 ft.

How Tomahawks Work

1.Tomahawks, the cruise missiles launched from ships Wednesday, can be deployed from a destroyer, cruiser or a plane. After launch, tailfins and wings deploy.

2. A solid propellant powers the missile until a small turbofan engine takes over for the cruise portion of flight.

3. The missile descends to a very low altitude to avoid radar detection as it heads for land.

4. To determine correct positioning as it travels including changes in altitude of terrain--the missile uses the global positioning system, or GPS. When target coordinates are reached, missile hits straight on or rises to strike from above.

Researched by TRICIA FORD / Los Angeles Times