B-2 stealth bombers took off from the US on mission to strike Iran
Those targets were Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan in Iran, the president revealed in a social media post just before 8 p.m. ET, saying it was a "very successful attack."
How to watch President Donald Trump will address the nation at 10 p.m. ET
The B-2s, valued at roughly $2 billion a piece, are known not only for their stealth technology, but for their ability to fly long range and carry big "bunker busting" bombs designed to penetrate deeply-buried bunkers and facilities.
Whiteman Air Force Base, southeast of Kansas City, Missouri, is home to the entire fleet of 19 B-2 stealth bombers and proclaims it "can project U.S. airpower anywhere around the world from its home station." Its 509th Bomb Wing is part of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
What is the B-2 Spirit?
The B-2 Spirit is a long-range stealth bomber, equipped to carry the heaviest U.S. bombs and nuclear weapons. Its design and materials limit its ability to be detected by enemy radar. Its flying wing design, composite materials and coating reduce its radar cross section, according to an updated Congressional Research Service report released June 18.
All B-2s are nuclear-capable, equipped to carry nuclear gravity bombs, but not cruise missiles, the Research Service stated.
It's the only aircraft equipped to carry the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, known as the "bunker buster" bomb.
What are the B-2 Spirit's specifications?
The B-2 has a total crew of two pilots.
A wingspan of 172 feet and a length of 69 feet.
Weighs 160,000 pounds.
Each can hold two of the GBU-57s.
Its design and build cost has been estimated at around $2 billion.
More: B-2 bomber returns home to Edwards AFB for upgrades on 35th anniversary of first flight
How has the B-2 bomber been used?
The bombers had been deployed at least once earlier in the year. Reuters, quoting unnamed U.S. officials, reported in April that as many as six bombers had been deployed to a U.S.-British military based on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
During Operation Allied Force, the B-2 was responsible for destroying 33% of all Serbian targets in the first eight weeks, flying nonstop to Kosovo from Missouri and back, according to the Air Force.
During Operation Enduring Freedom, the B-2 flew from Whiteman to Afghanistan and back, the Air Force said.
Its first ever combat deployment took place during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when it flew 22 sorties from a forward operating location, as well as 27 sorties from Whiteman. In total, the Air Force reported the bombers released more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions.
In the waning days of the Obama administration in 2017, two B-2 bombers were among a fleet that dropped more than 100 bombs southwest of Sirte, Libya in strikes against the Islamic state and al-Qaeda terrorist targets.
In October 2024, the U.S. attacked Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen with B-2 bombers. At the time, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strike by the bombers "was a unique demonstration of the United States' ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened or fortified."
How does a bunker busting bomb work?
Contributing: Reuters, Kim Hjelmgaard, John Bacon, Kathryn Palmer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Trump's aid cut risks causing 14 million deaths, report finds
Donald Trump's move to cut most of the US funding towards foreign humanitarian aid could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal on Monday.A third of those at risk of premature deaths are children, the research Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March that President Trump's administration had cancelled over 80% of all programmes at the US Agency for International Development, or USAID."For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict," Davide Rasella, who co-authored the Lancet report, said in a statement. The funding cuts "risk abruptly halting - and even reversing - two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations," added Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global report comes as dozens of world leaders are meeting in the Spanish city of Seville this week for a United Nations-led aid conference, the biggest one in a back over data from 133 nations, the team of researchers estimated that USAID funding had prevented 91 million deaths in developing countries between 2001 and also used modelling to project how funding being slashed by 83% – the figure announced by the US government earlier this year – could affect death cuts could lead to more than 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030, the projections found. That number included over 4.5 million children under the age of five – or around 700,000 child deaths a to Rubio, there were still approximately 1,000 remaining programmes that would be administered "more effectively" under the US State Department and in consultation with the situation on the ground has not been improving, according to UN month, a UN official told the BBC that hundreds of thousands of people were "slowly starving" in Kenyan refugee camps after US funding cuts reduced food rations to their lowest ever a hospital in Kakuma, in northwestern Kenya, the BBC witnessed a baby who could barely move and was showing signs of malnutrition, including having parts of her skin wrinkled and peeling.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Asian shares rise, dollar weaker as US bill debate lingers; gold jumps
TOKYO, July 1 (Reuters) - Asian shares crept higher and the dollar languished near multi-year lows on Tuesday as markets awaited a vote over U.S. President Donald Trump's landmark tax and spending legislation. Global shares reached an intraday record on Monday on trade optimism, but a marathon debate in the Senate over a bill estimated to add $3.3 trillion to the United States' debt pile weighed on sentiment. Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab gauge of shares sank as much as 1.1% as the yen climbed. Oil fell for a second consecutive session and gold advanced. A vote on Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill had been expected during the Asian trading day on Tuesday, but debate raged on over a long series of amendments by Republicans and the minority Democrats. Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. As global trade negotiators scramble to get deals done before Trump's tariff deadlines, investors are also anticipating key U.S. labour market data on Thursday. "Trade is front and centre this week, but alongside that, we've obviously got the fate of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', which is currently being debated in the Senate," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at the National Australia Bank. Payrolls data later in the week "does have significant bearing, I think, on sentiment towards the potential timing of Fed rate cuts," he added in a podcast. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was up 0.5%, led by South Korea's Kospi gauge (.KS11), opens new tab, rising 1.8%. The dollar dropped 0.3% to 143.62 yen . The greenback slid 0.1% to $1.1794 against the European single currency and earlier touched $1.1798, the weakest since September 2021. U.S. crude dipped 0.4% to $64.86 a barrel, weighed by expectations of an OPEC+ output hike in August. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,319.55 per ounce. Pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.1% at while German DAX futures were up 0.2%.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: Republicans scramble to pass ‘one big, beautiful bill' as deadline looms
Senate Republicans are racing to meet Donald Trump's self-imposed 4 July deadline to pass the president's massive tax-and-spending 'one big, beautiful bill'. In a marathon session, senators convened at the Capitol to propose amendments to the legislation over many hours. Democrats, who universally oppose the bill, are expected to use the process to force their opponents into politically tricky votes that they will seek to wield against them in elections to come. Even if it passes the Senate, the bill will still need to go back through the House, which is being called back to session for votes as soon as Wednesday. Here's the latest: As the marathon session kicked off on Monday morning, Senate majority leader John Thune sounded optimistic that the measure would soon clear his chamber. 'Let's vote. This is good for America, this is good for the American people, it is good for working families,' he said. Chuck Schumer the Senate minority leader said the bill 'steals people's healthcare, jacks up their electricity bill, take away their jobs – all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires'. He said Democrats would offer amendments to 'see once and for all if Republicans really meant all those nice things they've been saying about 'strengthening Medicaid' and 'protecting middle-class families', or if they were just lying'. Republican Senator Thom Tillis said 'this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,' a few hours after announcing he would not seek re-election in politically competitive North Carolina. Read the full story The Trump administration has codified its efforts to strip some Americans of their US citizenship in a recently published justice department memo that directs attorneys to prioritize denaturalization for naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes. The memo, published on 11 June, calls on attorneys in the department to institute civil proceedings to revoke a person's United States citizenship if an individual either 'illegally procured' naturalization or procured naturalization by 'concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation'. Read the full story The United States has said that Canada's prime minister Mark Carney 'caved' to demands from the White House after his government abruptly scrapped their digital services tax on US technology companies, which was set to go into effect on Monday. 'It's very simple. Prime minister Carney and Canada caved to president [Donald] Trump and the United States of America,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a daily briefing. Read the full story The Trump administration has concluded that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law in its handling of Jewish and Israeli students, and it threatened the school with a potential 'loss of all federal financial resources' as a result, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a Monday letter addressed to the Harvard president, Alan Garber, administration attorneys stated that the university was aware Jewish and Israeli students felt unsafe on campus but failed to take meaningful action. The letter, obtained by the Journal, accused Harvard of 'deliberate indifference' toward those concerns. Read the full story Donald Trump has signed an executive order to lift some financial sanctions on Syria in a move that the White House says will help stabilise the country after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad. Read the full story The US dollar has had its worst first half-year in more than 50 years, as the financial markets over the last six months were dominated by geopolitical crises and Donald Trump's trade war. The dollar has fallen by 10.8% against a basket of currencies since the start of 2025. That is its worst performance over the first six months of any year since 1973, and the worst half-year since the second half of 1991. Read the full story The US Department of Homeland Security has for the first time built a national citizenship database that combines information from immigration agencies and the social security administration. The Trump administration is on track to oversee one of the deadliest years for immigrants in detention after the recent deaths of two men – one from Cuba and another from Canada – while in federal custody. The US supreme court agreed on Monday to hear a case that could further erode restrictions on money in politics, in a challenge that comes in part from vice-president JD Vance. Catching up? Here's what happened 29 June.
