In fact, the plane remains so technologically sensitive that even disposing of it will be a major logistical undertaking.

Maybe what becomes most clear when watching the test montage video is that the B-2 still looks totally alien even after plowing the skies for 30 years. It's also worth noting that the B-2's own development continues till this very day with the 72nd Test and Evaluation Squadron playing a central role in those efforts. With that in mind, it's good to remember those who blazed the stealth bomber trail and how they did it. The advanced stealth jet is slated to enter service in the middle of the coming decade when it will also begin to replace B-2s and B-1s at a steady pace into the 2030s. Even though thirty years of technological development and knowledge gained from operating the B-2 have helped, the B-21 Raider will have a fairly compressed testing schedule. The testing will continue over the next several months.The video's timing is somewhat topical as America's next stealth bomber's Combined Test Force is already spinning up. The first ACTE flight was successfully completed on November 6 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, and was followed by additional successful flights. In this joint effort, conventional hinged flaps on a modified Gulfstream III business aircraft were replaced with FlexSys’ advanced, shape changing flaps that form continuous bendable and twistable surfaces. The Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) is a direct result of 20 years of collaboration between AFRL and FlexSys and the ongoing flight tests will determine if flexible trailing-edge wing flaps can both improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce airport-area noise generated during takeoffs and landings. NASA's green aviation project, together with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and FlexSys, Inc, is one step closer to demonstrating technology that could make future airliners quieter and more fuel-efficient with the successful flight test of a wing surface that can change shape in flight. NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, FlexSys' flight testing partners in the FlexFoil™ ACTE flight test program, have published a video of the high-speed taxi and early flight tests of the FlexSys ACTE flaps.

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