Limited to a production run of less than two dozen aircraft and confined to just a single operational unit (the 509th BW), you'd think that it would be difficult to write an 'in Action' title on the B-2. After all, it has only been in operational service for much less than a decade and seen very little action. What combat it has seen has been mostly at night and involved extremely long range missions. Nevertheless, this book offers probably the most concise compilation of information on the aircraft, weapons and missions you are likely to find.

There is a short introduction covering the background that led to the development of the B-2, followed by a slightly longer section on the construction and few upgrades of the aircraft.  This is followed by a section on the production of the aircraft. Most of the rest of the book consists of interviews of pilots and 509 BW commanders. Most of the photographs are USAF or constructor images, though the author does contribute some from a visit he made to the 509th. These mostly consist of cockpit and landing gear close-up images, as I'm sure the author's photos were first developed by the base photo lab to make sure that no classified material made it into print.

Face it, the plane has been 'in action' for only two campaigns; the Balkans during operation Allied Force, and the recently completed Afghan campaign 'Enduring Freedom'. This is clearly a case of getting a book into print to take advantage of a world event before interest in the subject once again wanes. It is an interesting read? Yes, it is. It is also, at least to this reviewer, more of a USAF recruiting book that a really serious look into the subject aircraft. To my mind, for a subject to be in this particular type of publication, it needs to have been around a lot longer than just a few years. Modelers and aviation enthusiasts would have been better served with an updated F-15 or F-16 'in Action' than one on the B-2.

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