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The United States may supply Israel with advanced Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker-buster bombs that can penetrate through up to 60 feet (almost 20 meters) of reinforced concrete, reports Maariv Tuesday. This is part of a deal being worked out between the countries, which also includes the supply of refueling jets. This equipment will make the job of demolishing Iran's nuclear weapon production array more feasible for Israel, should it decide to do so. In exchange for the weapons, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will agree to hold off on an independent attack until after the U.S. elections.

Under contract to the U.S. Air Force, Northrop Grumman's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has completed its first 18.5-hour sortie over the North Pole to validate new flight management software. The computer upgrade system, which is the cornerstone for all future B-2 upgrades, is now ready to enter low-rate initial production. The Extremely High Frequency (EHF) Increment 1 system verification review demonstrated the computer upgrade program successfully satisfied the government's requirements. The sortie also included air-refueling to and from the North Pole from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The verification reviews and flight test were the culmination of over two years...

Say you own a 20-year-old car and intend to drive it beyond the year 2050. It will need some fixing. A challenge similar to that continually faces Whiteman Air Force Base, home to the B-2 stealth bomber. Many aircraft parts made in the 1980s, when the first of 21 B-2s rolled out of a Northrop Grumman Corp. hangar, are as obsolete today as the floppy disk. Yet the plan is to keep those bat-winged bombers flying, and eluding the latest in radar technology, until 2058. The Pentagon is moving forward with a $2 billion, 10-year effort to modernize the fleet’s...

With a recent contract award from Northrop Grumman to provide electronic support measures (ESM) on the B-2 Spirit bomber, BAE Systems will be providing electronic warfare on all three U.S. Air Force low-observable platforms, including the F-22 and F-35 fighters, according to the company. The new ESM system will replace the original Lockheed Martin AN/APR-50 defensive management system on the 20 B-2s. The ESM system works in conjunction with the radar warning receiver to detect and alert aircrew to electronic threats. Although it says it was selected “in a competitive bid process over the incumbent and industry’s top electronic warfare...

Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned. The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government. In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles...

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A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber sits on the ramp at Andersen AFB in Guam "Tip of the Spear" USA. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060917.htm (medium, large) The Photographer Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, United States Air Force   Food For Thought From the September 2007 article "The Plane That Would Bomb Iran" by Robert D. Kaplan  http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2007/09/the-plane-that-would-bomb-iran/6133/   "The B-2 makes a statement. And that statement is, 'We mean business!'" He [U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert "Wheels" Wheeler] banged his fist on the table. Wheeler is the classic intense Air Force intellectual. He has degrees in both engineering and strategic studies and...

A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber soars over the Pacific Ocean. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20061021.htm (medium, large) The Photographer Tech. Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, United States Air Force  

Six hero pilots return home safe and sound from a bombing mission to Libya which saw them in the cockpit for an incredible 25 hours. Three B-2 Spirit bombers, piloted by two men each, made it back after the 11,418-mile round trip from the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - where they are kept in special hangars - to Libya, where they hit targets on forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and back again. At $2.1bn, they are the most expensive warplanes in the world and rarely leave their climate-controlled hangars. But when it does, the B-2 bomber makes a...

Sunday, 20th March 2011 - 09:57CET B-2 bombers in action over Libya - reports American B-2 bombers have been deployed over Libya, according to international media reports. Three of the bat-shaped radar evading bombers are reported to have dropped up to 40 bombs on Libyan airfields. Similar operations were performed in the past against airfields in Iraq. The US and Britain have so far said that they fired 112 Tomahawk missiles at Libya from surface warships and submarines in the Mediterranean. The UK said missiles were also fired from Tornado GR-4 bombers which flew from the UK, their longest bombing...

The Via http://www.flickr.com/photos/code20photog/4024791969/  The Photographer Ken Koller 

.: Northrop Grumman Corporation has begun flight testing the new computing hardware and communications infrastructure that will eventually allow the B-2 stealth bomber to send and receive battlefield information by satellite more than 100 times faster than today. Since Sept. 1, the company has conducted a series of test flights using a B-2 test aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight test program is part of Increment 1 of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2 Spirit, the flagship of the...

"The Spirit of Hawaii" -- a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber -- taxies to get into formation at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, USA, during the "Beast Walk" Exercise on June 22, 1998. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htm (medium, large)   The Photographer Senior Airman Jessica Kochman, United States Air Force  

Hunched over, her eyes fixed downward, Tanya Hart inches across the vast wing of the B-2 stealth bomber one small step at a time, looking for any nicks or hairline scratches in the freshly repainted surface. Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can. Hart, 50, is the last line of defense for what may be the world's most expensive paint job. "This isn't a job where you can afford to mess up," said Hart, a "surface technician" for Northrop Grumman Corp., which built the bombers and is now...

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (April 9, 2010) — The Missouri Air National Guard at Whiteman Air Force Base has approximately 20 new vacancies for traditional part-time Guard positions in the total-force-integrated 131st Bomb Wing, but the work will be anything but traditional and comes with high requirements since it involves duties with the B-2 stealth aircraft. “Working on the B-2 is not for everybody,” said Master Sgt. Krista Krause-Meier, Air Guard recruiter. “It’s for dedicated individuals who have integrity and a desire to make the Air National Guard a part of their life — whether for six years or...

Off the coast of Guam "Tip of the Spear" USA . . .1542 x 1024 pixels . . . 2262 x 1502 pixels . . . 3200 x 2125 pixels . . . 4288 x 2848 pixels . . . via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm   The Photographer TSgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo, United States Air Force  

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The new START treaty that would cut the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons could also prompt the United States to trim the bomber leg of its nuclear force. Limits that reduce the number of deployed "launchers" to 700 could encourage U.S. nuclear policy makers to rely more on land-based and sea-based ballistic missiles and less on B-2 and B-52 bombers, said Tom Collina, research director at the Arms Control Association. "The bomber leg of the triad is not what you think about when you think about survivability and quick response," he said. At present, the United States has...

What do B-2 bombers and nuclear submarines have in common? Both cost about the same and both require periodic, and expensive, refurbishment. The U.S. B-2 bomber is the most expensive warplane ever to enter service. The 21 that were built ended up costing over $2 billion each. About half of that was development expense. At the time these aircraft were built (in the 1990s), they cost as much as a major warship. The B-2 has similar needs, including periodic (every seven years), lengthy (13 months) refurbishment (programmed depot maintenance, or PDM). Most of the PDM is devoted to refurbishing structural...

This is a rare aerial recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PixDnc7c6P4) of two USAF F-22A Raptor stealth fighter jets and one USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying together over the Pacific region's "tip of the spear" -- Guam, United States of America. The F-22A Raptor and B-2 Spirit are the world's most advanced military aircraft, designed and made in the U.S.A; and paid for by We the People of the U.S. of A. Watching these remarkable defenders of freedom fly together -- flown by the best pilots in the world -- makes one proud and thankful and glad to be a citizen of this...