COMPANIES An aircraft that costs $2bn (£1.2bn) should inspire awe, but when it emerged a decade ago that Northrop Grumman's hugely expensive B-2 Stealth Bomber was prone to losing its stealth ability when it rained, it inspired jokes instead.
The problem was soon corrected and stealth aircraft went on to fly in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq, but it fostered a view that the technology, which is designed to make planes all but invisible to radar, is prohibitively expensive to acquire and maintain - unless you are the US military.
