Hal Markarian (1929 — 2012) was an Armenian American aircraft designer who is known for implementing the initial designs of the

B-2 Stealth Bomber The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying wi ...

. He produced a sketch that was the inspiration for the modern B-2 Spirit. Today's B-2 Spirit incorporates much of Markarian's design.

Design for the B-2 Stealth Bomber

During the initial project of the Stealth Bomber, Hal Markarian was appointed as project manager. The first sketches of the aircraft were done by Markarian in June 1979. Markarian's proposal was one of the two designs that were considered in the making of the Stealth Bomber. Markarian's proposal was very similar to the

YB-49 The Northrop YB-49 was an American prototype jet-powered heavy bomber developed by Northrop Corporation shortly after World War II for service with the United States Air Force. The YB-49 featured a flying wing design and was a turbojet-powered d ...

, an aircraft designed by

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

three decades earlier in 1947. The design was influenced by Irv Waaland and John Cashen who were experts in stealth technology. The team also included aerodynamicist Hans Grellman, as well as Dick Scherrer, a designer who had arrived from Lockheed. The design was much lighter and thinner than the modern B-2 Stealth Bomber and had six engines equipped, most likely GE F404. The aircraft had a diamond shaped center body which served to accommodate a crew, fuselage and weapons. The aircraft design that Northrop Grumman would later adopt was similar, though it had a deeper center-section of the aircraft than Markarian's design. Due to demands from the Strategic Air Command, the aircraft was also made much heavier and had larger weapon carriers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markarian, Hal Aircraft designers American people of Armenian descent Northrop Grumman people 1929 births 2012 deaths