B-2 Spirit meets B-29 Superfortress: US’ 1st and latest nuke bomber share sky

In a rare event, two iconic U.S. Air Force bombers, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, and the veteran B-29 Doc, soared together for the first time.

Despite their initial flights being nearly fifty years apart, these legendary aircraft shared the sky in a unique formation flight on July 13 at the Wings Over Whiteman Air Show at Whiteman Air Force Base.

Connecting the two models, the B-29 was the first aircraft to fly the aerial leg of America’s nuclear deterrence triad, which now includes B-2s as a crucial component.

In April this year , twelve B-2 stealth bombers demonstrated aerial power at the same venue to cap off the yearly Spirit Vigilance exercise .

Historic B-29 bomber

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing and primarily used by the United States during World War II and the Korean War.

Named in reference to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-29 was intended for high-altitude strategic bombing. However, it also proved highly effective in low-altitude night incendiary bombing and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan.

Notably, B-29s were the aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, making them the only planes ever to deliver nuclear weapons in combat.

Nearly 4,000 B-29s were produced, including serial number 44-69972, which was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces in March 1945. This particular aircraft is now famously known as Doc.

The aircraft emerged from a factory now operated by Spirit AeroSystems, a current supplier of Boeing aircraft parts. Doc missed combat action but served from 1945 to 1956 as part of a radar calibration squadron on the East Coast.

B-2’s unique design

When the US military was looking for a replacement for the aging B-52 bomber in the 1970s, the concept of the B-2 bomber initially emerged.

The goal at the time was to create an airplane that could be almost undetected by enemy sensors and transport nuclear weapons to several locations in a couple of hours.

The defense company that won the bomber contract, Northrop Grumman, invested billions of dollars and almost ten years in developing this aircraft. Radar scanners perceive the resulting 172-foot-wide flying wing as an insect.

The B-2 Spirit bomber is unique among aircraft designs because of its single, enormous wing construction. There are several advantages to this flying wing design over conventional aircraft layouts.

In contrast to standard aircraft, which rely on individual wings to sustain the weight of the fuselage, or main body, the B-2 aircraft produces lift throughout. This makes a wider operational range possible.

“The B-2, one of the most survivable aircraft in the world, is the only aircraft to combine long-range, stealth, and a heavy payload on a single platform,” according to the Northrop Grumman .

In 2001, during Operation Enduring Freedom, the B-2 Spirit of America and five other B-2 bombers set a record with a 44-hour mission over Afghanistan. After a brief pit stop with engines running, the B-2 flew back to Missouri, totaling over 70 hours of flight time.

Nineteen B-2s are in service with the US Air Force as of 2024; one was destroyed in a crash in 2008, and another was lost in a crash in 2022. The Air Force intends to utilize them till 2032, at which point the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is scheduled to take their place.