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Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb class (Mk 82) JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration. Twenty B-2s are in service with the United States Air Force, which plans to operate them until 2032. The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet, with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles with one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as the second aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a nuclear bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat dropping conventional, non-nuclear ordnance in the Kosovo War in 1999. It later served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)

LISTEN: Does the U.S. military still need manned aircraft?

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Ben breaks down the midterm election results and what they mean for the Pentagon and for some of President Trump’s signature defense programs.

Then, Jerry McBrearty, vice president and program manager, B-2 and Air Combat Systems at Northrop Grumman, joins the show to talk about the B-2 stealth bomber, its role in the Iran war and the future of manned aircraft in the U.S. military.

Plus, the "Threat of the Week." 

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