Inside the B-2 raid: Pick-up pills, 18 hours flying, then bombs away
It's a long haul racing the sun from Knob Noster, Missouri, to the mountains of Qom and the nuclear bunker buried deep at Fordow. At 37-hour haul, to be precise, there and back.
Even before the pilots charged with flying their $2 billion B-2s to drop the world's largest non-nuclear bombs on Iran were in position, they would have already spent 18 hours in the air.
Given the secrecy surrounding the B-2, a projection of military power that paradoxically exists never to be seen, little is known about who the men and women who flew the sorties that effectively forced the regime into a ceasefire with Israel. They were, the Pentagon said, as far from the macho shirt-off volleyball-playing fighter aces portrayed in Top Gun as you could care to imagine.
It is, however, possible to piece together how the mission unfolded, beginning long before the planes took off from Whiteman Air Force Base, about an hour east of Kansas City, racing to strike as the Iranians slept.
For the aviators and air crews from the US air force and the Missouri air national guard, ranked from captain to colonel, the raid felt like the Super Bowl, military chiefs said this week, with 'thousands of scientists, airmen and maintainers all coming together'.
• How badly damaged are Iran's nuclear sites and missiles?
In the previous weeks they would have flown to Fordow and back dozens of times in a state-of-the-art simulator at Whiteman base, near Knob Noster, which includes a replica of the B-2 cockpit, complete down to the cot where they can sleep and the toilet that is used by the pilots; only if they really must.
In many ways, when President Trump gave the go-ahead, the real mission would have felt similar to the simulations. One former pilot said the big difference would be over Iran, where they would 'feel the clunk' of their weapons bay doors opening, then a lightening of the aircraft as it was relieved of its two massive ordnance penetrator (MOP) bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds.
There would have been a sharp turn as soon as 'bombs away' was called as the stealth bombers headed out of Iranian airspace. Then, one pilot on the mission said, there was the 'brightest explosion I have ever seen, it literally looked like daylight'.
By that time, according to pilots, the two in the cockpit may already have felt the need to take two pills that have long been issued to those who fly long missions. The so-called 'pick-up pills' or 'go pills', which are likely to be amphetamine-based to keep aviators awake, have been issued to bomber pilots about to undertake missions through the night.
• The Iran-Israel conflict in maps, video and satellite images
If Melvin G Deaile, who flew the longest recorded B-2 mission at 44 hours to Afghanistan and back in 2001, knows whether the pilots needed the pills, he was not saying this week. Speaking to The Times, the retired air force colonel said the pilots would have been remarkable for being unremarkable. 'The B-2 is still a technological marvel,' said Deaile, 59, of the bomber that entered service in 1997.
There were originally plans to build 132 B-2s, but the cost of each and the end of the Cold War brought an end to that. The 21st and last B-2 entered service in 2000. 'The amazing thing is, whether it's the pilots this past weekend or myself or anybody, they're just average Americans who signed up to do a mission and go out and do it.'
The bomber has seen action in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, where Deaile flew in October 2001 after President Bush ordered strikes on the Taliban in response to the 9/11 attacks. Though perhaps not quite as fraught with risk as attacking Iran, which once had a proud air force and strong air defences, the mission to strike the Taliban was complicated by a late change of targets while they were in the air.
For military planners at the Pentagon, however, Fordow has always been the main prize in Iran. Alongside Captain Brian Neal, Deaile piloted a B-2 named Spirit of America — poignant, given the raid took place in the months after 9/11. He admitted they had been given pills to keep them alert during the mission, which included multiple refuellings and spending two hours over Afghanistan.
The mission was so long because after dropping 12 JDAMs — guided bombs — on Taliban forces, commanders asked them to go back over enemy territory and release four more explosives. Deaile and Neal finally touched down on the Diego Garcia military base after being in the air for 44 hours and 20 minutes.
According to some reports, the pilots who completed the Iran mission had a microwave oven on board to provide warmed-up snacks for the trip. That is a luxury Deaile, who grew up on a farm in Fresno, was not afforded. While the army has 'meals, ready-to-eat' (MREs), Deaile said the air force equivalent was kinder to the digestive system and better adapted to long flights. He also brought sandwiches on board and was allowed a flask of coffee. But sometimes the snacks would go uneaten.
• The Times view: Iran crisis is putting our special relationship to the test
'Most of the time we didn't really eat that much after a day and a half in the cockpit because we weren't really exercising,' he said. 'You don't really get hungry if you're not doing much.'
Even if the work is not too physically demanding, the pilots must still sleep. Deaile used to have a cot behind the two seats so that an airman could sleep when not in 'critical phases of flight' — take-off, landing, mid-air refuelling and bombing. It was not a luxury bed, but good enough.
'It's the military; you learn to sleep wherever you can,' Deaile said. 'And we'll get the job done and if it means staying awake for 40 hours, we stay awake for 40 hours.'
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Times
2 days ago
- Times
Inside the B-2 raid: Pick-up pills, 18 hours flying, then bombs away
It's a long haul racing the sun from Knob Noster, Missouri, to the mountains of Qom and the nuclear bunker buried deep at Fordow. At 37-hour haul, to be precise, there and back. Even before the pilots charged with flying their $2 billion B-2s to drop the world's largest non-nuclear bombs on Iran were in position, they would have already spent 18 hours in the air. Given the secrecy surrounding the B-2, a projection of military power that paradoxically exists never to be seen, little is known about who the men and women who flew the sorties that effectively forced the regime into a ceasefire with Israel. They were, the Pentagon said, as far from the macho shirt-off volleyball-playing fighter aces portrayed in Top Gun as you could care to imagine. It is, however, possible to piece together how the mission unfolded, beginning long before the planes took off from Whiteman Air Force Base, about an hour east of Kansas City, racing to strike as the Iranians slept. For the aviators and air crews from the US air force and the Missouri air national guard, ranked from captain to colonel, the raid felt like the Super Bowl, military chiefs said this week, with 'thousands of scientists, airmen and maintainers all coming together'. • How badly damaged are Iran's nuclear sites and missiles? In the previous weeks they would have flown to Fordow and back dozens of times in a state-of-the-art simulator at Whiteman base, near Knob Noster, which includes a replica of the B-2 cockpit, complete down to the cot where they can sleep and the toilet that is used by the pilots; only if they really must. In many ways, when President Trump gave the go-ahead, the real mission would have felt similar to the simulations. One former pilot said the big difference would be over Iran, where they would 'feel the clunk' of their weapons bay doors opening, then a lightening of the aircraft as it was relieved of its two massive ordnance penetrator (MOP) bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds. There would have been a sharp turn as soon as 'bombs away' was called as the stealth bombers headed out of Iranian airspace. Then, one pilot on the mission said, there was the 'brightest explosion I have ever seen, it literally looked like daylight'. By that time, according to pilots, the two in the cockpit may already have felt the need to take two pills that have long been issued to those who fly long missions. The so-called 'pick-up pills' or 'go pills', which are likely to be amphetamine-based to keep aviators awake, have been issued to bomber pilots about to undertake missions through the night. • The Iran-Israel conflict in maps, video and satellite images If Melvin G Deaile, who flew the longest recorded B-2 mission at 44 hours to Afghanistan and back in 2001, knows whether the pilots needed the pills, he was not saying this week. Speaking to The Times, the retired air force colonel said the pilots would have been remarkable for being unremarkable. 'The B-2 is still a technological marvel,' said Deaile, 59, of the bomber that entered service in 1997. There were originally plans to build 132 B-2s, but the cost of each and the end of the Cold War brought an end to that. The 21st and last B-2 entered service in 2000. 'The amazing thing is, whether it's the pilots this past weekend or myself or anybody, they're just average Americans who signed up to do a mission and go out and do it.' The bomber has seen action in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, where Deaile flew in October 2001 after President Bush ordered strikes on the Taliban in response to the 9/11 attacks. Though perhaps not quite as fraught with risk as attacking Iran, which once had a proud air force and strong air defences, the mission to strike the Taliban was complicated by a late change of targets while they were in the air. For military planners at the Pentagon, however, Fordow has always been the main prize in Iran. Alongside Captain Brian Neal, Deaile piloted a B-2 named Spirit of America — poignant, given the raid took place in the months after 9/11. He admitted they had been given pills to keep them alert during the mission, which included multiple refuellings and spending two hours over Afghanistan. The mission was so long because after dropping 12 JDAMs — guided bombs — on Taliban forces, commanders asked them to go back over enemy territory and release four more explosives. Deaile and Neal finally touched down on the Diego Garcia military base after being in the air for 44 hours and 20 minutes. According to some reports, the pilots who completed the Iran mission had a microwave oven on board to provide warmed-up snacks for the trip. That is a luxury Deaile, who grew up on a farm in Fresno, was not afforded. While the army has 'meals, ready-to-eat' (MREs), Deaile said the air force equivalent was kinder to the digestive system and better adapted to long flights. He also brought sandwiches on board and was allowed a flask of coffee. But sometimes the snacks would go uneaten. • The Times view: Iran crisis is putting our special relationship to the test 'Most of the time we didn't really eat that much after a day and a half in the cockpit because we weren't really exercising,' he said. 'You don't really get hungry if you're not doing much.' Even if the work is not too physically demanding, the pilots must still sleep. Deaile used to have a cot behind the two seats so that an airman could sleep when not in 'critical phases of flight' — take-off, landing, mid-air refuelling and bombing. It was not a luxury bed, but good enough. 'It's the military; you learn to sleep wherever you can,' Deaile said. 'And we'll get the job done and if it means staying awake for 40 hours, we stay awake for 40 hours.'
The Independent
2 days ago
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The National
3 days ago
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RTS switch-off in July will put vulnerable Scots at risk
Good evening! This week's edition of the In Common newsletter comes from Dr Ron Mould, net carbon manager at Bield Housing. AFTER 14 years of missed deadlines and shifting timetables, we've now entered the final month before the nationwide switch-off of the radio tele-switch (RTS) signal and the reality is looking increasingly grim. With tens of thousands of homes still awaiting smart meter installation, we are now in a desperate scramble to avoid a full-blown crisis. This is no small problem. An estimated 30% of the UK's remaining RTS meters are in Scotland, disproportionately affecting rural, elderly, and vulnerable households. The consequences of failure are significant and at this late stage, feel inevitable. As Net Carbon Manager at Bield, a housing provider supporting older people across Scotland, I've seen first-hand how badly this transition has been handled. Our tenants are among those directly affected, people who rely on electric storage heating and trusted the RTS system to manage their energy needs affordably and safely. Many are now facing anxiety, confusion and rising costs, with little to no support from the systems meant to protect them. Across the country, residents reliant on RTS for their heating are experiencing a barrage of issues, repeatedly aborted meter installations, often with no communication or learning applied to subsequent attempts. READ MORE: 'Deep concerns' over lack of urgency to replace soon to be switched off meters Some can't even get appointments, with suppliers routinely stating there are 'no engineers available in your area.' Even when installations do go ahead, the problems don't stop. New meters can trip electrics, prompting a game of finger-pointing between energy suppliers and electricians. More commonly, the issue lies in the specification of the new meters themselves. Despite supplier claims of a like-for-like swap, many smart meters provide a continuous 24-hour supply, in contrast to the timed circuits of RTS systems. Without integrated timers for heaters and hot water (previously controlled by the RTS signal) householders are left with systems that run around the clock, racking up unnecessary costs. Timers, if installed at all, often don't align with off-peak periods, which themselves have been allowed to erode, some tariffs now offer just a 1p difference between peak and off-peak. The BBC's longwave broadcasting equipment, which transmits the RTS signal, has genuinely reached the end of its life. But while the technology may be out of date, the strategy to replace it is even worse. Ofgem has not delivered a clearly communicated, nationally coordinated plan. Instead of a well-managed transition, we've had vague reassurances and rumours of a phased switch-off—starting with regions that have the fewest RTS meters remaining. READ MORE: 'Strength has emerged': Ex-Iran prisoner looks back on life in notorious jail Ofgem's own position is not especially reassuring: they admit they 'don't know what will happen.' Whether we experience a complete signal loss or a cascading failure across zones, one thing is certain- there will be no further UK-wide delays. Even a phased switch-off is expected to take place over just a few months, with no guarantee of any extension for Scotland. This is the sort of groundwork that should have been laid months ago, not weeks before the switch-off. Ad campaigns fronted by Lorraine Kelly have only recently hit the airwaves- despite repeated warnings that the RTS switch-off would create confusion and difficulty if not properly addressed early on. These last-minute efforts, while welcome, reflect a broader lack of long-term planning. At Bield, we're doing all we can to support our tenants — helping them navigate bookings, installations, and even explaining why their heating now works differently. But the scale of the issue is bigger than any one organisation can solve alone. We're seeing the real-world consequences for those left in limbo by unclear processes and mixed messaging. For those with electric heating, I urge you to contact your energy supplier immediately and request a smart meter. If you've already had a failed visit, rebook — and keep rebooking until the job is done. If you already have a smart meter, check that your hot water and heating systems have timers. Confirm they match your tariff's off-peak hours. If they don't, you'll need to adjust or retrofit them—otherwise, the promised cost savings will be lost. The RTS switch-off is no longer a future event — it's here. The headlines this July are, sadly, predictable. A lack of coordination, planning, and urgency from energy suppliers and regulators alike has led us to the brink of a national energy blunder. And as someone working closely with the people now facing the fallout, I can say this with confidence: Scotland deserves better.
