In this video the Real Engineering Youtube channel explains how the B-2 Spirit is designed bottom to top literally to avoid detection, and every element is part of the puzzle that makes radar essentially blind to the bomber.Watch to learn how it works.
image/source: Real Engineering
The goal of stealth technology is to make an airplane invisible to radar. There are two different ways to create invisibility:The airplane can be shaped so that any radar signals it reflects are reflected away from the radar equipment.The airplane can be covered in materials that absorb radar signals./howstuffworks
Most conventional aircraft have a rounded shape. This shape makes them aerodynamic, but it also creates a very efficient radar reflector, which means that no matter where the radar signal hits the plane, some of the signal gets reflected back.But the stealth bomber has more radar dodging tricks than just reflection.
Advertisement
The B-2 was made with the aid of a supercomputer and computational models to develop its curved shape, and the B-2’s streamlined wing design and placement of the engine, all add up to make it more invisible to radar. The engine’s intake and exhaust are on top of the plane to avoid being spotted by ground-based devices./gizmodo.