In case you are a lover of such things as high-stakes drama, use of technology at its best, and international tension that is quite similar to the plot of some Hollywood blockbusters, then you might want to know about the recent American B-2 Spirit stealth bomber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, since they had every element of these things.
In the dead of night on June 21, a squadron of B-2s—each a $2 billion marvel of engineering—flew out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Their target: three of Iran’s most heavily defended nuclear facilities—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
This wasn’t business as usual. The B-2s dropped their entire payloads at Fordow before heading back home, all safely. The strike wasn’t merely a military action—it was a massive escalation of the Israel-Iran confrontation, with Washington openly joining in along with its closest Middle East ally to deliver a direct punch to Tehran’s nuclear program.
So what made the B-2 the go-to weapon? For one, it’s the only plane on the planet that can deliver the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)—a 30,000-pound “bunker buster” intended to smash underground targets once considered beyond reach.
Fordow, which is located inside the mountain, was built to withstand normal bombs. The B-2, however, as having one of the most stealthy radar-dodging flying wing designs, can go beyond the enemy’s protection and deliver the bunker buster in the exact spot.
And although brute power is part of the equation, the B-2’s real advantage is stealth. Its radar cross-section is so small it’s likened to a bird, rendering it nearly invisible to cutting-edge air defense systems.
With a radius of more than 6,000 nautical miles—and even more with in-flight refueling—it can hit anywhere on the planet from its Missouri base.
Its two-person crew depends on advanced automation and concealed weapons bays, allowing it to possess a one-of-a-kind capability of up to 40,000 pounds of bombs while remaining almost invisible.
Preparing such missions is as amazing as the attacks themselves. All 19 B-2s are home-based at Whiteman, but the Pentagon forward-deployed six of them to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean earlier this year—a deployment that caused a stir when satellite imagery captured the bombers queued up on the runway.
Cedric Leighton, a former Air Force colonel, said the deployment was designed to send several messages to Iran: cease supporting proxies such as the Houthis in Yemen, and realize the repercussions of not coming to the negotiating table regarding nuclear matters.
The B-2’s resume is already filled with combat history. It’s flown missions over Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and now Iran—demonstrating time and again that it can deliver crippling strikes anywhere on the planet, no matter what the defenses. When the B-2 Spirit engages the battle, it’s an airstrike on steroids—it’s a statement.