In 1999, China was attacked by B2 stealth bombers . This was the infamous attack on the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia . B2 was the most technologically advanced military aircraft in the world at the time. The US military claimed that it accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy because of a map problem. This is simply nonsense. Since the country was still relatively weak at the time, this dumb loss could only be swallowed.
The epoch-making bomber
B2 bomber has a very special status in the history of world bomber development . From the appearance point of view, the B2 simply looks like it flew out of a science fiction movie, without any sign of human technology. In fact, B2 is indeed a miracle in the history of human aviation.
B2 is the most famous but also the most mysterious weapon and equipment in the US military. After decades of service, the relevant data of B2 is still highly confidential, especially the internal structure, which has not been released to the outside world. The biggest feature of B2 is its extremely strong stealth capability and its ultra-long range. The B2 is also known as the most threatening bomber in the world.
This evaluation is not groundless. During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, military powers such as the Soviet Union often built a complete territorial air defense system. It was impossible for ordinary aircraft to break through such a strict air defense system . The idea of the United States and the Soviet Union was to use ultra-low altitude supersonic to penetrate the defense. The United States came up with B1B, and the Soviet Union came up with Figure 22 and Figure 160.
The initial penetration performance of these supersonic strategic bombers was indeed good, but with the advancement of radar and missile , this kind of penetration was useless. In order to suppress the Soviet Union in the strategic bomber field, began to secretly develop a stealth bomber that could deceive radar.
It can be said that the B2 was born to break through the Soviet air radar network, and its method of breakthrough was to rely on the aircraft's stealth capability to penetrate deep into Soviet airspace without alerting the Soviet radar. Stealth technology in the United States has a long history. It developed the Hefblue stealth demonstrator very early and developed the F117 stealth fighter-bomber.
However, the F117 has a relatively single purpose, and the aircraft is not large enough to undertake strategic bombing missions. Therefore, the US military decided to start anew, and proposed the B2-related design plan . Although the B2 was technically very difficult, the U.S. industry was at its peak at the time. The B2 project was progressing smoothly, and the new bomber soon took to the skies.
B2 is different from the existing B52 and B1B. From the perspective of a general bomber, the bomb load of the B2 is pitifully small. The B2 is incapable of conventional carpet bombing missions. But B2 has its own uniqueness. From the beginning, B2 determined to use precision guided munitions as its main weapon.
The target to be hit by B2 is also very clear. The US military will not dispatch B2 to general military targets. Only key enemy targets such as command centers will be carried out by B2. The U.S. military was extremely optimistic about the prospects of using the B2. It planned to produce hundreds of them to create a unique fleet of stealth bombers. However, after the B2 was officially produced, the U.S. military discovered that this bomber was too expensive, and in the end only 21 were produced.
B2 is not invincible
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union , B2's main target naturally shifted to China. China is also a military power, and its territorial air defense system is more complete than that of the Soviet Union. The B2 has become the only bomber of the US military that can threaten China's hinterland during wartime.
The People's Liberation Army is also very aware of the huge threat of B2, especially after Yugoslavia was bombed by B2, this stealth bomber has become a thorn in the side of our army. After studying the technical characteristics of the B2, our military realized that the source of the combat power of bombers like the is the stealth . Without stealth, the B2 would be a living target in the sky.
With this understanding, how to break the B2's stealth has become the top priority of the People's Liberation Army's countermeasures.The first thing that the People's Liberation Army thought of was anti-stealth radar . The radar band is different from , and the detection effect will be different. When designing, B2 never considered being invisible in front of the meter wave radar .
After China realized this, it launched many types of meter-wave radars and successfully tracked B2 bombers flying in the Asia-Pacific region many times, breaking the myth that B2 is undetectable. In order to regain the stealth effectiveness of the B2 in the future, the US military has also considered replacing the B2 with new stealth paint. However, the B2's flying wing configuration is too special. Changing the paint will cause the weight distribution of the aircraft to change, resulting in a tragedy of aircraft crash and fatalities.
In desperation, B2 cannot penetrate China's airspace with arrogance and can only show off its power at the door. Of course, in addition to anti-stealth radar, China has many other ways to deal with this stealth bomber, such as the People's Liberation Army's electronic warfare platform. This special aerial platform can monitor electromagnetic signals in the airspace, and the design of B2 will absorb a large amount of surrounding electromagnetic signals. Chinese electronic warfare aircraft will track the location of B2 through data analysis.
B2's flight performance is not outstanding. Once discovered by our military's electronic warfare aircraft, it can quickly notify the fighter to take off to intercept. It will be difficult for B2 to escape from our military's hands. In addition to this method, the People's Liberation Army's space-based reconnaissance system can also be used to track B2 bombers.
space-based reconnaissance systems are generally equipped with extremely sensitive infrared detection systems. This design was originally designed to detect the tail flame launched by ballistic missile to provide remote early warning. In wartime, this system can also be a supplement to anti-stealth bombers. Although B2 has processed its own infrared signals, it will still be captured without interference and cannot hide its whereabouts.
Also due to the emergence of various anti-stealth technologies, the US military's application of B2 bombers has also begun to favor attacks outside the defense zone . Like the B1B and B52, the B2 will be equipped with a variety of ultra-long-range attack munitions and be launched outside the range of the enemy's anti-aircraft missiles. The advantage of this is that the bomber's loss rate will be reduced to the maximum , and the bomber will no longer need to perform dangerous penetration actions.
But this method of strike also makes the B2's stealth useless. , the supersonic B1B and even the old B52 can complete such a strike after being replaced with new weapons. The flight cost is lower than that of the B2. Although the US military is unwilling to admit it, the B2 has indeed lost its stage.
