Hitler’s obsession? B-2 Bomber’s design was inspired by a lost Nazi blueprint from 1940s
In the 1940s, Nazi engineers Walter and Reimar Horten designed a revolutionary flying wing aircraft, the Horten Ho 229. It was meant to be fast, long-range, and hard to detect by radar, decades ahead of its time.
The origin: Nazi Germany’s Horten Ho 229
In the 1940s, Nazi engineers Walter and Reimar Horten designed a revolutionary flying wing aircraft — the Horten Ho 229. It was meant to be fast, long-range, and hard to detect by radar — decades ahead of its time.
The flying wing concept
The Horten Ho 229 used a flying wing design — no fuselage or vertical tail — just one broad, sleek wing. This shape naturally reduced radar reflections and drag, laying the groundwork for stealth principles used today.
The unfinished Nazi prototype
Only a few prototypes of the Horten Ho 229 were built before Germany’s defeat. The aircraft never saw combat, but its futuristic design caught the attention of Allied engineers during post-war intelligence missions.
Operation Paperclip & captured designs
After WWII, under Operation Paperclip, US intelligence gathered German aviation documents and recruited former Nazi scientists. The Horten brothers’ designs were among the materials that later influenced American aircraft design.
Northrop’s interest in flying wings
American aircraft maker Northrop had been exploring flying wing designs since the 1940s. The Horten blueprints validated many of Northrop’s concepts, leading to prototypes like the YB-35 and YB-49, precursors to the B-2.
The evolution to the B-2
By the 1980s, radar and missile technology had advanced, making traditional bombers vulnerable. US engineers revisited the flying wing design, incorporating new materials and computer modelling. The result: the B-2 Spirit, combining stealth and long-range nuclear strike capability.
A Nazi dream reborn in America
Today’s B-2 stealth bomber owes much to the visionary and sinister, Nazi-era blueprint. While radically updated, the idea of a radar-evading flying wing, first imagined in the chaos of 1940s Germany, lives on in one of America’s deadliest aircraft.
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