Why is the Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber the first of its kind? Well, put simply, it’s because no one built a stealth strategic bomber before it, and something had to be the first. That said, the B-2 did not arise in a vacuum. The stealthy Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, which functioned in practice more like a bomber, came before it, as did the Tacit Blue demonstrator.