On November 22, 1988, the U.S. Air Force publicly unveiled the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s flying-wing design and radar-absorbing materials were intended to make it difficult to detect on enemy radar. The program had been highly classified and expensive, drawing both strategic interest and political scrutiny. The B-2 was designed to deliver conventional and nuclear weapons deep inside heavily defended airspace. Its unveiling demonstrated advances in stealth technology and signaled a shift in U.S. strategic thinking at the end of the Cold War. The bomber later saw combat use in conflicts such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
