B-2 Spirit Essay

“Never before had so much brain-power been focused on a single problem.”(Laurence qtd. in “Eyewitness”). Many inventions can be said to have changed the world, and the way it worked. Only a core few of these many inventions can be said to change air warfare, and few of those are as game-changing as the B-29 Superfortress by Boeing. The B-29 was the plane that dropped the atomic bombs in World War Two (“bomber”). The plane by Boeing was used most in World War Two as a strategic long-range bomber. This invention revolutionized the concept of war, and war is a factor in all life on planet earth. The B-29 bomber changed warfare by sparking the innovation of aircraft technology, saving lives, and allowing more power to be carried by the means

The after taking 25 years to develop the F22 Raptor from conception to operational certification the United States Air Force (USAF) produced the world’s first 5th Generation air superiority fighter. (site) This revolutionary fighter plane leveraged its very low observable stealth (VLO) and thrust-vectoring and digital fly by wire technology, to produce an extremely fast, agile and deadly air to air combatant. (GEO P 2) However, in 2009 Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, (SECDEF) convinced the President (POTUS) and Congress to truncate the F22 program, leaving the USAF with less than 187 operational F22 Raptors, this number was well short of the 381 the USAF estimated they needed to meet their mission requirements. (AWC 1/ site) Gates made his controversial decision based on three factors. This essay will explore these factors and explain how the 2009 U.S strategic environment, the overall cost of the F22 and Secretary Gates’ desire to change the Department of Defense (DOD) all lead to the decision to limit the production of the F22 Raptor at 187 aircraft.

After a decision was made in 1984 by the army to give it an anti-tactical ballistic missile capability, a series of modifications and additions were made to the system's software and to the missile warhead and fuse (pac-2). These upgrades were then fully tested, manufactured and deployed in Saudi Arabia on time for Desert Storm. This system was designed to defend military targets such as bases against relatively short-range tactical ballistic missiles," Charles A. Zraket articulates before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. (Simon, 1996) The U.S. Army’s mission during the Persian Gulf War was to shoot down incoming Al-Hussein missiles and Iraqi scud missiles. The mission in Saudi Arabia differed from the Israel mission because Patriot units only had to push the missile away from its intended target or disable the incoming targets warhead. Disabling the warhead ensured minimal casualties as the scuds would typically target military outposts or civilian populations. The overall success rate of the Patriot missile system during the Persian Gulf War was 70% in Saudi Arabia and 40% in Israel. (Simon,

Being the real first heavy bomber, the B-29 would start production six years after the B-17 won the USAAC competition. The head of Boeing Aircraft Co. on January 29, 1940, received a letter titled "U.S. Army, Airplane, Bombardment, Specification For". (The Boeing B-29) This would start production of the B-29. After thousands of hours of work, the plane took it maiden flight on September 21, 1942. The plane could carry a whopping 70 tons of cargo, the same amount of weight the Enola Gay carried on its way to Japan. It could fly at 400 miles per hour, almost 200 more miles per hour than its predecessor. The plane could also fly 4 thousand miles. (The Boeing B-29) The most famous B-29, the Enola Gay, dropped the bombs on Japan and forced them to raise the white flag and win the war against the Japanese. The plane was flown by Paul Tibblets and Robert Lewis. These planes helped win the war against the Axis powers and capture Berlin.

Because of the tight formations and gutsy flying by the B-17 crews they were able to put thousands of tons of bombs on target with great accuracy. The insight and information of the crews was a vital part in the military to create bigger and better equipment to help the war come to a close. While many of the crews were lost, the steel on target and the information provided saved thousands of lives. The average death toll of a B-17 pilot during World War II was eighty percent. To put that in perspective CPT. Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle, said it like this, “You eat breakfast with 10 of your closest buddies, go on a mission, and only two would be at

B. Discussion of mode #2 Hillenbrand defines the B-24 bomber as a poorly built, dangerous aircraft that airmen are wary of. It is cramped, ugly, and unsafe. Flying it was similar to “wrestling a bear,” and “there were several incidents in which B-24 tails dropped off in midair” (64). By defining the B-24 from the point of view of airmen, Hillenbrand emphasizes that it is not the preferred aircraft for the soldiers for the reasons listed.

a. Since the commencement of formal hostilities with Germany in 1941, production of aircraft has drastically increased, exceeding initial estimates. In FY41, the number of heavy bombers produced was 282. This increased to 2,513 in FY42, and to 9,574 in FY43, with the majority comprised of B-17 and B-24 bombers. Fighter production has seen a similar increase.

In today’s digital age, development of new technology and weapons are at an alarming rate, hence arises the need to stay ahead of advancements in order to properly defend the nation, as well as coalition forces and allies. In this period of warfare, the number one threat comes in the form of air breathing and ballistic missiles. During World War II, this threat was present, but was not thought to be prevalent.

Imagine that you are a pilot in World War II fighting for the Allies. You and your bomber squad are flying over enemy territory below, and are just at the point of pressing a button, which will unleash havoc on the ground below. This, was quite a common theme in World War II, as bombings from both the Axis and Ally side happened extremely often. The bomber plane was heavily changed in World War 2, and the journey of evolution that it has taken is truly fascinating.

One of the men would call it a flying coffin. As cramped as it was it had a nose gunner, a ball turret gunner on the bottom , a tail gunner, two waist gunners on each side and a bomb bay in the middle. Malfunctions were the worst enemy of the b-24’s. The super man had recorded some malfunctions including two in-flight engine failures ,a gas leak,oil pressure problems, and landing gear that locked-fortunately, in the down position. Once the Super Man’s brakes failed and the plane was three feet short of the runway what lied beyond that was the

On Sunday, January eleventh, it was reported that the U.S. sent a B-52 bomber to fly over North Korea along with two fighter jets. The reason for this is because North Korea stated that they were successful in testing a hydrogen bomb. They also stated that they tested this hydrogen bomb in order to defend themselves against the U.S. from starting a nuclear war. Also, the fighter jets that accompanied the B-52 were South Korean fighter jets. It has not been said yet if the statement about the hydrogen bomb was confirmed or not.

The aircraft was nicknamed that because it was a code name for the B-29. The aircraft pre-war had a lot of failures but engineers in Sweden had to make the tank bigger for all the weight and people it was carrying. There were nine crewman on the plane at the time when the atomic bomb was dropped there were two engineers. They had to bring engineers along just in case there was a complication with the bomb not detonating or it not dropping. On the way back of the days of dropping little boy, the fuel pump was not giving the airplane enough fuel so they had to wait a couple days to drop the fat man. The B-29 has a history of 3 test sites one including the Fat Man in Sweden so they had to test its durability in to test how fast it could get away from the explosion before getting radiation poisoning to the

On January 15, 1985 the US Dept of Defense (DoD) designated the aircraft as the V-22 with the nickname of Osprey. The first prototype was unveiled in May 1988, but that same year the US Army left the program due to rising costs and other factors. This left to US Marines and US Air Force as the remaining primary contributers. The program continued despite much political turmoil. One issue almost cancelled the program altogether in 1992. The next two big leaps were the first horizontal flight on March 19, 1989 and the first vertical flight shortly after on September 14, 1989. These progresses are likely what kept the Osprey idea alive for that time period. Regardless of those success steps, the fourth and fifth prototypes were lost and the designers sent back to their drawing boards again. Following some redesign, the project continued with the Osprey now designated the V-22B, the second or 'B' iteration of the aircraft, instead of the V-22A that they now call the first attempt.

In 1968, the Soviet Union came up with a new development- the building of antiballistic missiles defence systems. These were to be used for nuclear, chemical, biological or even conventional warheads in the homeland defence of such a strike because they were designed to counter ICBM’s. As a method to counter this development, United States came up with multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles (MIRV’s) which improved the chances of avoiding detection by ABM systems. In addition to this, United States also developed its own IBM in order to match that of Soviet Union.

Towards the end of the War the airplane becomes a practical device of war being able to carry weapons. Anthony Fokker and Louis Bleriot create the most successful of early modern biplanes known as the D-VII and D-VIII. Biplanes are eventually taken over by the monoplane, or one wing. This new design allowed for faster flight and better visibility for the pilot. Air-cooled engines lead the way for commercial aircraft, and Boeing introduces the first modern airliner the 247. Airplanes are effected the greatest by supply and demand of war. New styles of war begun to emerge so did new and improved types of aircraft. The population of the U.S. also begun to grow which leads to the modern most sophisticated commercial airliner the 777. Most aircraft improvements are found in the military and intelligence field. The most high tech aircraft known today for such things as spying are the SR-71 Blackbird, and the U-2 Spy plane. The most complicated and best aircraft performance is still held by the space shuttle and probably always will be. The last 200 years have seen incredible changes in aircraft from the man with wings to heavier than air flying machines that can travel at supersonic speeds.