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"  June 1946 Test pilot Max Stanley flies the XB-35, the distant grandfather of the B-2. It will take decades of engineering progress before flying wings are stable enough to fly in combat. November 1981 Northrop Grumman wins a contract to research a flying-wing bomber.  February 1982 The Tacit Blue test airplane begins flights. The Air Force uses the data it generates to shape the B-2.  July 1989 The B-2 flies for the first time in the skies of California. April 1997 The Air Force announces the B-2 is ready to drop conventional bombs. March 1999 A pair of Spirit bombers strike Yugoslavia with satellite-guided bombs in the B-2&amp;#039;s combat debut. October 2001 B-2s bomb Afghanistan, the first response to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. March 2003 B-2 stealth bombers open the &amp;quot;shock and awe&amp;quot; campaign in Iraq, hitting the correct targets with 2000-pound bombs but failing to killSaddam Hussein.  February 2006 The Air Force declares its intention to field a new bomber in 2018.  February 2008 A B-2 crashes without fatalities in Guam after its airspeed sensors are befuddled by moisture. Says Technical Sgt. Thomas Anderson: &amp;quot;For us, it was like when Kennedy was shot.&amp;quot; April 2009 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates cancels the 2018 bomber. March 2011 Three B-2s from Missouri wipe out Libya&amp;#039;s air force on the ground in one evening.  February 2012 The Obama administration in its 2013 budget requests $6.3 billion to develop a new bomber, ready in 2025. January 2013 The Pentagon confirms the B-2 can carry the GBU-57, a 30,000-pound bomb, which explodes after penetrating hundreds of feet of concrete.     &amp;amp;lt;&amp;amp;lt;&amp;amp;lt; Penetration Mode     How It Will Work &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;    "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a8931/from-wwii-to-the-b2-the-evolution-of-the-flying-wing-15438863/>