The Sawtooth on the Back of the B-2 Is the Scar of a Mission It Never Flew — and Northrop Left It Off the B-21

The Sawtooth on the Back of the B-2 Is the Scar of a Mission It Never Flew — and Northrop Left It Off the B-21

Northrop Grumman's first B-2 design was cleaner than the bomber the world eventually saw. The deep sawtooth along its trailing edge wasn't the engineers' choice — it was forced by a mission the Cold War cancelled before the aircraft ever flew it. The B-21 shows what the design looks like without it.