B-2 Bombers Head West Across Pacific Amidst Iran Crisis
At least two separate groups of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are currently heading westward across the Pacific Ocean, but their exact final destination is currently unclear. The bomber movements come as U.S. officials have been deliberating whether or not to join Israel’s ongoing campaign against Iran, and President Donald Trump has said a final decision could come within the next two weeks. B-2s carrying 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bombs are widely seen as the only readily available conventional option for targeting the deeply-buried enrichment facility at Fordo, in particular, short of a ground raid.
Online flight tracking data, together with publicly available air traffic control audio, shows at least two separate flights of B-2 bombers using the call signs Mytee 11 and Mytee 21 departing Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri overnight, supported by a large force of aerial refueling tankers. Whiteman is the main operating base for the Air Force’s entire fleet of 19 B-2s. The stealth bombers headed west and subsequently linked up with additional tankers off the coast of California.
How many B-2s are in each Mytee flight is not clear, but there are reports that each one contains at least three B-2s. Flight tracking data shows four tankers were tasked to support each group after the initial launch from Whiteman. Earlier this year, two sets of three B-2s had deployed to the highly strategic Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, from where they flew strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, in what was also a major show of force aimed at Iran.
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It should be stressed here that there are no clear indications one way or the other at this time that the B-2s are actively headed to conduct strikes on Iran, although they have the capability to do so without forward basing. This was demonstrated last October when a group of them flew straight from Whiteman to strike targets in Yemen. At that time, TWZ also highlighted the clear signal that the marathon mission had sent to Iran.
The fact that the B-2s refueled immediately after takeoff could point to them at least having MOPs onboard, as the weight of the weapons requires some fuel to be sacrificed for departure.
Positioning the B-2s even in Guam would still reduce the time for sorties to and from Iran, which would, in turn, help the turnaround time for follow-on missions. Each of the stealth bombers can only carry two GBU-57/Bs at a time, and multiple MOPs would be required to neutralize Fordo as part of a sustained campaign.
https://www.twz.com/air/b-2-bombers-head-west-across-pacific-amidst-iran-crisis
= new reply since forum marked as read
that could potentially be where they're headed which would be an ideal area to attack Iran from.
If so, this is fucking nuts.
Can Big, Beautiful, Bunker-Buster Bombs be the distraction from the Billionaire Bonanza Bill?
Pass it as a rider on the "Iran skirmish authorization bill?"
Please lock these 4 in a bunker.
I should get a Nobel Peace Prize for that suggestion. 