In what year was the competition held that inspired the design of the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in stealth configuration?
1979
Title: Lockheed Senior Peg
Passage: The Lockheed Senior Peg was an experimental design by the Lockheed Corporation that competed with a design by Northrop (Senior Ice) for a stealth aircraft which would eventually become the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.  It was created as part of the Advanced Technology Bomber competition, The competition started in 1979.
Title: Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
Passage: The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy penetration strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two.  The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb -class (Mk 82) JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2400 lb B83 nuclear bombs.  The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.
Title: Air Armament Center
Passage: The Air Armament Center (AAC) was an Air Force Material Command (AFMC) center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, responsible for development, acquisition, testing, and deployment of all air-delivered weapons for the U.S. Air Force.  Weapon systems maintained by the center included the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, High-speed anti-radiation missile, HARM Targeting System, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Miniature Air-Launched Decoy, Sensor Fuzed Weapon, and the Small Diameter Bomb.
Lockheed Senior Peg Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit