Во время 18 часового полета от Edwards Air Force Base в Калифорнии до Северного полюса и обратно, экипаж провел учебное бомбометание свободнопадающими бомбами BDU-38, имитаторами основного вооружения - ядерной бомбы B-61 (мощностью до 340 килотонн в некоторых модификациях).
Полет был произведен для изучения возможностей действия бомбардировщиков B-2 в высоких широтах.
Напомним, что первый полет стратегического бомбардировщика США к Северному полюсу (вдоль побережья СССР, далее поворот на СП и возвращение на базу) был 17 марта 1947. B-29 из 59 WRS [Weather Reconnaissance Squadron] капитана Джорджа А. Коллинза. Высокоширотный маршрут получил название Ptarmigan ("Белая куропатка"), полеты проходили регулярно и 13 октября 1956 года отмечался уже двухтысячный полет ("2000th Ptarmigan").
North Pole round trip puts B-2 to the test
By Brian Everstine - Staff writer
Фотография: A B-2 Spirit flies to the North Pole on Oct. 27 on a test mission from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The polar flight tested the stealth bomber's hardware and software upgrades, along with its endurance and performance at high latitudes.
Posted : Sunday Nov 6, 2011 8:55:23 EST http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/ ... p-110611w/
Destination: North Pole. If you’re an Air Force pilot, the hot place to go this year is very cool — 30 below in the winter, zero in the summer.
A C-5 Galaxy made the first trip in early June. A couple of weeks later, a KC-135 Stratotanker ventured into Santaland. Then, in mid-August, a B-52 went for a visit.
And now a B-2 Spirit out of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., has been to the top of the world and back. Total time in the air: more than 18 hours with refueling assists by tankers out of Edwards and Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
Members of the 419th Flight Test Squadron chose the chilly climes to test new updates to their stealth heavy bomber. Back at Edwards, the crew dropped four unguided BDU-38 bombs over the base’s Precision Impact Range Area.
The B-2 had flown to the North Pole in simulated tests, according to Lt. Col. Hans Miller, the 419th’s commander.
“A goal of the test force is to prevent a situation where an aircraft experiences an anomaly with a new system for the first time in an operational mission,” Miller said in a statement. “This flight to the North Pole could reveal data and lessons that were not seen in a lab or simulated environment.”
The main objective of the flight was to make sure that the aircraft knew where it was and could get to a weapons release point after flying at such high latitudes, according to Maj. Michael Deaver, the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, B-2 Extremely High Frequency Test director.
Flight tests help the Air Force detect problems with the aircraft before it flies missions, said Maj. Andrew Murphy, the pilot on the historic flight.
“The war fighter needs to know where they can and can’t go,” he said. “Essentially, we’ve proven the fact that they can get up into those [high] latitudes safely and effectively. That previously was a question mark.”