Network Advantage: How to Unlock Value From Your Alliances and Partnerships

Chapter One

Network Advantage: Making the Stealth Bomber

Does the airplane shown in Figure 1.1 look like it can actually fly? During World War II, many in the U.S. military grappled with this question, but the XB-35 bomber, which was completed in 1948, eventually became the prototype for the B-2 Stealth Bomber that rules the air today. The development of the Stealth Bomber is a fascinating and instructive story about its creator, Jack Northrop, and the power of alliance networks.

Figure 1.1: The XB-35 bomber¹

In his time, Jack Northrop was considered to be the aerospace genius. He dominated aviation innovation in the twentieth century, creating ...