US Stealth Bomber costing $2.1bn and with call-sign ‘DEATH’ lands at British RAF base

Plane spotters received an unexpected surprise when a B2B stealth bomber came into land at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. 

The nuclear-capable $2.1bn aircraft was involved in a training mission over Iceland when it returned to the RAF base shortly before nightfall. 

Dozens of planespotters gathered around the airbase’s perimeter fence waiting for the stealth bomber’s return. 

The jet, pictured, is the most expensive aircraft ever built and was designed to deliver either conventional or nuclear bombs

Steve King, who was among the crowd, said: ‘It was quite a sight, as they are a unique and weird UFO-type looking planes.

‘I thought I’d take a different perspective, including some of the crowd looking up at it.’

Mr King, 37, from Swindon, Wiltshire, added: ‘I’d say roughly it was about 50ft above me.

‘Living fairly local to the air base I am a regular visitor when these exercises take place.’ 

Three of the B2 bombers – which cost $135,000-an-hour to operate – have been involved a a series of NATO training missings. 

The planes, which use the callsigns DEATH 1, DEATH 2 and DEATH 3 are temporarily based at RAF Fairford as part of a series of NATO training exercises.  The aircraft touched down in Gloucestershire on August 27

Earlier this summer, a pair of B2s were photographed with a pair of F-35 Lightning jets over the White Cliffs of Dover

The B-2s are capable of refueling mid-air allowing them to spend more than 30 hours on a mission – allowing them to strike almost anywhere on the planet. The unusual shape reduces their radar signature

They are capable of carrying nuclear bombs as well as conventional explosives and were designed to be able to deliver a payload to the Soviet Union as they could evade their air defence system due to their ability to fly 10,000 miles and only need to refuel once

The bombers are being based temporarily at RAF Fairford, as it has a longer runway than other air force bases and climate-controlled B2 aircraft hangars

With a 172-foot wingspan and a design that allows them to travel 10,000 miles with only one mid-air re-fueling, so that they could bypass Soviet air defence systems, they are one of the most deadly warplane models in the sky. 

They are a small part of a US fleet of 20 Stealth Bombers, the country’s most technologically advanced aircraft ever made, which are based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

First designed under the Carter Administration, originally 132 were ordered by the United States. However, this was quickly scaled back following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since then the Stealth bombers have been used in fighting over Kosovo, where they bombed Serbian forces as NATO countered ethnic cleansing in the region, to take out Taliban targets in Afghanistan, and more recently to hit ISIS positions in Syria.

RAF Fairford is classed as a ‘forward operating base’ for the 509th Bomb Wing in the US European Command area.  

During their training missions, the B-2s have flown with RAF F-35s, landed in Iceland and performed hot refuelling training on the Azores. 

The B-2 Spirit bomber first flew in 1989 and has set the record for the longest ever combat mission at 44 hours in 2001 – hours after the 9/11 attacks. 

B-2 SPIRIT: MOST EXPENSIVE AIRCRAFT EVER, BUILT TO DROP ARMAGEDDON ON THE SOVIETS 

The B-2 Spirit is the U.S. Air Force’s deadliest and most expensive plane – a Cold Warrior’s invention which has since been used to bomb the Taliban and ISIS.

Each of the 20 operational B-2s is valued at $2.1 billion, and putting one in the air costs an estimated $135,000 an hour, and cannot function in the rain.

On board its flight crew of two can stay in the air for 33 hours, at the controls of a plane designed to sneak into Soviet territory unseen to drop nuclear bombs, then return to the U.S. in a single flight.

The B-2s were first designed under the Carter administration, came close to being canceled, and finally took flight for the first time in 1989, just as the Soviet Union they were supposed to fight was collapsing, entering Air Force service in 1997.  

They have been used to fight in Kosovo, where they bombed Serbian forces as NATO moved in to counter ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Albanian minority, and in the war on terror, taking out Taliban targets in Afghanistan and most recently ISIS positions in Syria.

All are currently based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, meaning that the one designated to fly over the Mall is flying 1,042miles to D.C. for the spectacle. 

If it flies low enough it will be visible from the ground, but it is almost invisible on radar, with its stealth design making it look like a pigeon on radar screens.

SPECIFICATIONS: 

Aircrew:  2

Top speed: 628mph 

Range: 6,000 nautical miles, and refuels approximately every six hours 

Length: 69ft

Wingspan: 172ft

Weight: 158,100lbs 

Weapons: B61 and B83 nuclear bombs, MK84 conventional bomb, MK82 and CBU-87 conventional weapons and AGM-129 advanced cruise missile

How many: 20 operational 

Costs: $135,000 an hour to operate, making it roughly twice as expensive to operate as the B-52 or B-1