This is a material sample of a panel from a B-2 Bomber aircraft, a low-observability stealth bomber designed to deliver nuclear and conventional munitions. The bomber adopts the 1949 “flying wing” design of engineer Jack Northrup, which consists of a very broad wing with essentially no main cabin or tail. The aircraft underwent development during the 1980s with the intention of being used to penetrate Soviet Union air defenses, deliver nuclear weapons, and return to American Air Force bases. It is the most expensive aircraft in the world, with a cost of more than 1 billion dollars per plane. Although the U.S. government originally intended to manufacture 132 bombers, during the 1990s, at the end of the Cold War, production was reduced to 20 planes. Today, the operational bombers are stationed at the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where they will be used until 2032.

The bomber uses a variety of technologies to reduce its infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual, and radar signatures. The aircraft’s aerodynamic flying wing design incorporates a series of complex, large-radius curved surfaces to direct radar energy in the least revealing directions. It also lacks the afterburners used to power supersonic flight on other military aircraft to reduce its infrared signature. The paint coating the plane’s tiles is a ferrofluid, meaning it becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field, which helps it reflect waves and makes the aircraft harder to detect. In addition to its stealth technology, the B-2, which can travel 6,000 nautical miles without refueling, holds the record for the longest air combat mission in history – 44 hours in 2001. Aside from its use in combat, the B-2's iconic silhouette has also appeared in movies – everything from Independence Day to Iron Man 2.