The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is regarded as one of the most advanced stealth bombers ever built. Its unique design is engineered to reduce its radar visibility, but that doesn’t mean the aircraft is undetectable by cameras. This was demonstrated in 2021 when a Reddit user observed a B-2 appearing on Google Maps.
The B-2 was discovered on Google Maps
In late December 2021, the image of the B-2 Spirit on Google Maps was uncovered when Reddit user Hippowned revealed their discovery on the site. The blurry image, showing the stealth bomber flying over a field approximately 50 miles east of Kansas City, Missouri, was taken by Google’s satellite cameras.
The images are no longer on Google Maps
The exact coordinates were 39°01’18.5”,-93°35’40.5”, and the shades of blue, green and red were the result of the satellite cameras’ process of taking photos, before turning them into a clear image.
Unfortunately, the snaps in question have since been updated on Google Maps and now only show a barren field.
What is the B-2 Spirit?
The B-2 Spirit is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, which is situated only 20 miles north of the site shown on Google Maps. Between 1987 and 2000, a total of 21 of these aircraft were built, designed to equip the US Air Force with a strategic bomber incorporating cutting-edge stealth technology capable of bypassing even the most advanced anti-aircraft defenses.
The B-2 is expected to stay in service until the 2030s
The B-2 entered service in 1997 and saw its first combat action in 1999 during the Kosovo War, later participating in operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. It is expected to be retired in the early 2030s, with the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider set to take its place.
This wasn’t the only B-2 caught by Google Maps
This wasn’t the only time a B-2 Spirit was caught on Google Maps. In 2022, it emerged that sleuths had come across a second image, this time of a crashed stealth bomber at Whiteman Air Force Base. The incident occurred in September 2021, when the Spirit of Georgia made an emergency landing at the base, going off the runway and landing in the grass.
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The $10.1 million crash was later determined to be the result of “microcracking” in the hydraulic connections of the aircraft and faulty landing gear springs.