Photos of Stealth Aircraft

Includes F-117, F-35, B-2 (mockup), the Bird of Prey stealth technology demonstrator and an RQ-1 Predator drone.  The US produced the original stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk "stealth" fighter. The “F” prefix is misleading; it’s actually an attack aircraft. The Americans based the mid-1970s "Have Blue" prototype aircraft on Soviet research...  

The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber started as a 132 aircraft program. As costs spiraled up, the program was slashed, which increased the fully allocated unit cost such that the 21 airplanes ended up with a unit cost of $1.157 billion. Yes, billion. Each is named after an American state (Spirit of Georgia, Spirit of Washington, etc.).

The B-2 first flew 30 years ago in June 1989. Using air-to-air refueling, Spirit can fly 33-hour missions and has served in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. One (Spirit of Kansas) crashed due to a mechanical failure so officially there are 20 left.

B-2s carry their up to 50,000 pounds of bombs in two internal bomb bays and normally have a 6,900 mile range and a subsonic 560 mph cruise speed.