

Northrop had been working on stealth since at least the mid-1960s.

Northrop was a curious pick-after all, it had not produced any bombers since World War II.

Air Force sent out a Request for Proposal in 1980, and in October 1981 Northrop won a $7.3 billion initial contract to produce 127 Advanced Technology Bombers. Little was known about the bomber at the time except that it would incorporate new radar-evading technologies and possibly a dramatically different shape than previous bombers. Instead of the B-1A, Carter authorized development of the Advanced Technology Bomber, or Stealth Bomber. Carter had been briefed on the new field of stealth technology and was responsible for the development of the F-117A stealth fighter. In the late 1970s, the administration of President Jimmy Carter opposed the high-speed B-1A bomber as a waste of government money. service, and the only one of three types that still carries nuclear gravity bombs. The B-2 is the most advanced bomber in U.S. Originally conceived to infiltrate the Soviet air-defense network and attack targets with nuclear weapons, over the decades its mission has grown to include conventional precision attack. The B-2 Spirit is one of three strategic heavy bombers in U.S.
