Stealth - How Does it Work? (Northrop B-2 Spirit)

Thanks for watching! Sorry the audio is a little off in this video.
Currently trying to cut back on my expenses and had to move into a new apartment with shitty acoustics.

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All external footage is either in the public domain or fair use.

[MosesKaldor]

It has the radar cross section of a large bird, travelling at 650mph.

[MrTheblackopsdude]

*Looking at radar* "Eh, why is there a large bird flying at 600 mph?" *Hears explosion* "Damnit"

[REAL-BIG-HAM]

seeing the B-2 on radar:
guy 1: what that there?
guy 2: it's probably just a bird
guy 1: but it going 600 mph
guy 2: it's a big fast bird

[meepster]

That plane flew over my house once. You don't need radar, it's louder than a comet blowing up all of Australia

[JJs_playground]

It's got a cross-section of a bird but going 1000 km/h. Lol

Radar operator: sir this bird is moving at mach 1

[Brian-bdgc]

Can you show the picture of the actually aircraft? All I see is a video of clouds.

[harrisgartenberg]

My friends father was one of the core designers of this aircraft when he served in the air force. He still to this very day won't even tell his own son (my friend) a peep about it. I'm still amazed how ingenious him and his team were to create such a fine piece of engineering for its time.

[wadud]

Am I surprised the Germans made a similar concept in the 40s? Nope, not at all. They might have been the biggest assholes around at the time, but they have always been phenomenal engineers

[RealEngineering]

Hope you like the video. Really excited for my new video, it's about one of the subjects that first sparked my interest in engineering as a kid.

I'm currently in a bit of a hectic stage, stuck in indecision about moving home to Ireland or staying in sunny Malaysia. Staying here is proving difficult after quiting my job in Oil & Gas. The next video may take me a while to make, a lot of interesting history in the subject!

[domfoco]

The problem with stealth was hinted in the video - many ground radar systems can detect something the size of a bird, so when they see a bird moving at 500mph they know what it is!

[KGisthename]

An awesome channel like this has slipped under my radar up until now.

[mr.fluffybuttgaming]

There's something you missed, I actually consider kind of a big thing, the B-2 isn't invisible to ALL radars. Here's the thing: lots of SAM sites (very big ones such as S-400/ 500) consist of two kinds of radar systems, Low frequency radar (L-band, early warning radar, in use during WWII) and High frequency radar (X-band, also used on fighter jets). The L-band radars don't really care about the shape of an object, and in fact can detect the B-2 easily, even though the B-2 does have some L-band reducing design features, they only help a little, but there's a catch. L-band radars are not accurate enough to give targeting info to a missile (another downside to L-band is that they have to be huge and cumbersome) so this is where X-band radars come in. These type of radars are used to guide radar guided missile to their intended target, which is why fighter jets use them, but this part of the spectrum is where the B-2 is meant to be stealthy, so they can see the B-2 but can't shoot anything at it. X-band radars do consider the shape of the object a lot more significantly than L-band so the B-2's shape absorbs and deflects radar waves easier than it does with L-band radars. Otherwise fantastic video :3

[jackmacejko]

Your page is dope. You're dope. Thanks for making these videos!

[vitabudi]

Someone:”what your plane made off?”
B-2 owner:”PLASTIC “

[Adam-fzqk]

Channels like you, CGP Grey, and Wendover Productions are what make my day.

[Melthornal]

The Man who taught me radar in college was one of the radar specialists who worked to develop this plane. Fun fact, he was a member of the program, but it was strictly top secret so he couldn't tell anyone. Also, secretly, his wife was a member of the program. Neither had any idea the other was a member of the program, and they both lived double lives for many years. Now they look back at it and laugh. The guy is an expert on radar guided missiles and whatnot, and that's what he taught me in college.

[xygomorphic]

Fun fact: Every COD4 player knows how much a B-2 costs.

[TheHelleri]

When I was a teen I had a friend who's dad maintained the wheels and doors of B-2 Stealth Bombers. He said that he was told there are additional factors to it's ability to mitigate it's radar profile. Such as white paneling made of a material that reflects radar underneath the darker paneling back into the darker paneling so that waves don''t get a chance to bounce. He also said that radar projects upward and traces a cone. So if they know where the radar stations are they can fly low enough to pass through negative space in the area stations cover. Anecdotal at best I know. But it made sense to me on the surface of it at least.

[ObamanableSnowman]

This is still a classic man. Crazy how far you've come in the quality and flow of videos. The fact that you made such an amazing video before having the fancy tools and experience you do now is a testament to your talent and hard work. But what really set you apart was your dedication to detailed researched science knowledge and the ability to translate it to a detailed/accurate but easily understandable form. That combined with your genuine interest and love for sharing that really is what makes you special. You always had the talent to earn this all yourself. Sometimes its luck, or marketing, or tricks etc but you always brought cutting edge complex science that you could not find anywhere else. Its always to a level and quality that just gives you the top spot in your content area.

[Fraptor]

You forgot one more thing I think you should have added, the creator of the whole company of Northrop (Jack Northrop) is the man who made the first fly wing prototype in the world, the N-9M was the first flying wing ever to fly, made in 1929, followed by the Horton Brother's Ho-229 world's first jet powered flying wing, and then back to Northrop, the XB-35 Piston engine bomber and then the YB-49 Jet powered flying wing, and then with the advent of fly by wire, the creation of the B-2 Spirit.