B-2 Bomber Facts: Interesting & Surprising Details

The B-2 Has Indefinite Range And Flight Time

A 2nd Air Refueling Squadron KC-10 Extender from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., prepares to refuel a B-2 Spirit, during a training exercise near Kansas, Nov. 10, 2016. The KC-10 Extender is an Air Mobility Command advanced tanker and cargo aircraft designed to provide increased global mobility for U.S. armed forces. Although the KC-l0's primary mission is aerial refueling, it can combine the tasks of a tanker and cargo aircraft by refueling fighters and simultaneously carry the fighter support personnel and equipment on overseas deployments.

Bombers are almost always designed with range in mind, but the unique design of the B-2 Spirit lends itself to extreme long range operations. Without refuel, the B-2 Spirit has a range of over 6,000 miles. However with refuel, that range can be extended nearly indefinitely. As it stands, from its three principle bases, the B-2 Spirit can reach any inhabited point on the planet with minimal support. This gives the US Air Force an unrivaled ability to deliver a payload—conventional or nuclear—to any point the mission might require.