sentatives voted to buy only twenty, and later only 15 saying that 10 would be enough. With four General Electric engines with 19,000 pounds ofthrust each, the B-2s were made to carry a lot of weight. The Advanced Technology Bomber, as it was called, was made so it couldn't be spotted by enemy radar. After testing it was found out that it is almost impossible to track it constantly using radar. The B-2s were designed to be an all-flying wing and it is made up of over eighty percent of composite materials. The B-2 is 69 feet long, has a wingspan of 172 feet, and 17 feet in height. They also can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds and can travel at mach 0.85 (Jones 86). The B-2 can carry 80 bombs, including nuclear bombs. All fifteen of the B-2s are assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and await to be used in actual combat.In 1983 the Advanced Tactical Fighter program office was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The Air Force wanted to build an aircraft that had the ability to supercruise without the use of afterburners or running out of fuel in a couple of minutes.It should be able to cruise at mach 1.4 or 1.5 and be able to take off on runways less then 2,000 feet long. Since the money was starting to get tight, the Advanced Tactical Fighter should cost under $40 million each to build. To come up with this aircraft, the Military gave a contract to both Northrop and Lockheed to each build it with these specifications. The Air Force wanted an air-superiority fighter to replace the Douglass F-15 Eagle. In 1986 the Air Force gave a contract to Northrop and Lockheed who would each build two Advanced Tactical Fighter prototypes. The Northrop YF-23 made its first flight in August 1990. It was powered by a Pratt and Witney F-119-PW engine. The YF-23 can hold four AIM-120 missiles. The YF-22 prototype made its first flight in September of 1990 and became the first to pass the Air Force's supercruise specification. It could...
