This volume undertakes a systematic review of the future strategic utility of the B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber, and the capability it represents. It is intended to serve as a case study of the type of analysis that should precede, trigger, and sustain force structure decisions in this period of great change. The B-2 bomber is the most advanced of an entire class of weapons systems—long range, land-based strike aircraft—which all meet the general selection criteria. Therefore it is well suited as a vehicle for exploring the rationale and criteria for future strategic utility of today's weapons systems.
The book addresses weapon system utility in terms tailored to the defense and policy environments likely to pertain through the 1990's and beyond. It emphasizes the policy demand that the United States is likely to place on its military forces in the new security environment and how that demand meshes with the characteristics of particular weapons systems. This analysis includes the development of eight areas, each the focus of one chapter, from broad observations about the international security environment and domestic attitudes through more detailed aspects of defense decision-making to the specific formulation of defense program initiatives. Copublished with the National Institute for Public Policy.