Ready For Faster Sorties Against Iran: U.S. Forward Deploys All B-2 Stealth Bombers to Guam and Diego Garcia

The U.S. Air Force has forward deployed all combat ready B-2 Spirit intercontinental range stealth bombers to forward bases on Guam and Diego Garcia, according to reports from multiple sources including U.S. officials. This development represents part of a greater shift in American forces positioning them near the Persian Gulf since the outbreak of open hostilities between Isreal and Iran on June 13, and occurred at a time when Washington is reported to be actively considering joining the war on Israel’s side. The B-2 fleet is permanently based at Whiteman Airbase in Missouri, and while capable of reaching targets in Iran from there, it can generate sorties significantly faster from forward bases in the Pacific. These bases are nevertheless distant enough to seriously limit the risks of Iranian counterattacks. The B-2 is expected to play a particularly central role in an American war effort against Iran due to its carriage of GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, which are too large to be carried by fighter-sized targets. With each B-2 able to carry up to 18,000 kilograms of ordinance, the bomber uniquely combines stealth capabilities with a very high weapons carrying capacity, making it the only survivable aircraft in the world capable of delivering such ordinance into well defended airspace.

Participation of the B-2 is considered particularly vital to securing Israeli and broader Western Bloc objectives against Iran, namely the destruction of its nuclear facilities, crippling of its military capabilities, and if possible the toppling of its government and installation of a Western-aligned administration in its place. This is largely due to the very high level of fortification which key military and nuclear facilities have received. The Fordow nuclear facility is a leading potential target for B-2 strikes, and was constructed an estimated 80 meters underground, with its hardening overseen by specialists from North Korea. Over 10,000 kilometres of underground fortifications have been provided by North Korea to similarly harden key facilities across much of Iran. Although the GBU-57’s ability to penetrate well hardened military and nuclear sites makes it a particularly prized asset, the ability of the bombs to destroy facilities such as Fordow, even when ‘layered’ by multiple B-2s in a formation using GPS guidance, remains in serious question. Further questions remain regarding the survivability of the B-2, which as the world’s oldest operational stealth aircraft, uses low observable technologies approximately two decades behind those of the new F-35. The reported losses of four Israeli F-35s to Iranian air defences has further highlighted the possibility that the B-2 fleet could be highly vulnerable if targeted by modern surface-to-air missile systems from the ground, with the very small fleet size of just 18 aircraft and the aircraft’s irreplaceability makes this a particularly serious threat.