Hmm. Do any aeronautics experts here have any comments regarding this? How successful could the Sovs be in making their own version of the B2, or would circumstances would be necessary?
The Soviets could, eventually, have gotten to the B-2 level of stealth, even past it, however, they were two generations behind the U.S. AND lacked both the computers and manufacturing techniques to catch up in a reasonable time. It also lacked the money needed to produce the aircraft or even the very special factories and ground facilities to handle the aircraft after it was eventually completed. FAR more importantly, the USSR didn't have the need.
As a weapon system the B-2 is absolutely spectacular, giving incredible to the United States. It is also completely unnecessary. It is very handy, since it allows the U.S. to smack an opponent with low chance of aircraft loss, but is that really a NECESSARY capacity. In any real engagement between the U.S. and USSR by the time the B-2 arrived all it would be doing was bouncing the rubble (now, an engagement with the PRC is somewhat different) so in a truly strategic sense it is redundant system. It is very nice to have when dealing with the bad actors out there (the DPRK, and potentially Syria and Iran are good examples), but the U.S. could perform 95% of the B-2 mission with B-1B and cruise missiles against any potential opponent. Who would the USSR (or now Russia) need that sort of capacity to engage that would not escalate rather quickly to unpleasant events?
The B-2 was, in the end, a true political weapon. It cost the U.S. $30 billion dollars to create the capacity, it would have cost the USSR $500 billion to try to counteract it. The USSR, thanks to traitors like the Walkers, KNEW what the B-2 was capable of (in far greater detail than the U.S. was letting leak), knew they couldn't hope to match up without destroying the country's already teetering economy, and at that point made a decision to ratchet down and try to save most of what they had rather than go with Plan B and start WW III before it was too late.
History has shown that the "save as much as possible" savings wasn't a whole lot, but it was better than pushing the economy to the point where the people figured that had NOTHING left to lose and replayed November of 1917 revolution with the members of the Supreme Soviet in the Tsar's starring role.
BTW: The B-70, or any other hypersonic bomber is more or less useless in a conventional role, especially before the invention GPS guided munitions. If you can't hit something from 40,000 feet and 450 MPH, how much worse would it be from 75K and 2,000 MPH. For that matter, imagine the spacing of a 20 bomb stick dropped from that altitude. First one would land in Saigon and the last one would hit somewhere in China.
Of course, that assumes that the $700 MILLION (in 1960 dollars
, makes the B-2 look cheaper than a Honda) bomber isn't plucked from the sky by an SA-2.