Latest news with #KosovoWar
Business Insider
01-07-2025
- Business Insider
How the US Air Force is keeping its decades-old stealth B-2 Spirit bomber lethal
The US Air Force's B-2 Spirit bomber is a highly effective strategic bomber built to penetrate tough battlespaces, but it's been flying for roughly three decades. Time takes a toll, meaning upgrades are needed to keep it lethal. The Air Force is working on making the B-2 harder to see and available more often as part of ongoing modernization efforts. Over the weekend, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs released details on how they are tinkering with the bomber's software and hardware to keep at the top of its game. Key efforts are focused on improving maintenance speed, better stealth, and improved communications. "A lot of people talk about the B-2 as a legacy platform and that is incorrect: It is an operational platform conducting strikes today and if the flag goes up tomorrow, it will be one of the first platforms to conduct strikes," said Lt. Col Robert Allen, materiel leader for the B-2 Advanced Programs Branch. The B-2, made by Northrop Grumman, is an expensive $2 billion bomber that was controversial in its development, in part due to the high costs. It entered service with the Air Force in 1997 and first saw combat in the Kosovo War as part of Operation Allied Force. Most recently, seven B-2s dropped bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The strategic bombers carried 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-buster bombs, powerful, heavy munitions designed to penetrate hardened bunkers and deeply buried underground facilities. Each bomb weighs 15 tons. B-2 bombers are also capable of carrying nuclear payloads and are an important element of the US nuclear triad, which also includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles. This flexibility in payload type and capacity makes the B-2 instrumental to the larger US military's strike options — and prompts continual investments in keeping it ahead of the curve. Quicker maintenance A bomber is only useful if it's ready to fly. The Air Force is working to ensure that the aircraft is ready when it needs to be by reducing downtime and increasing availability for what has traditionally been a maintenance-intensive aircraft. The service currently has 20 B-2s in active service, having lost one in a crash back in 2008. The B-2's significant maintenance overhaul, called program depot maintenance or PDM, that's done every nine years typically takes 470 days. It is "an exhaustive inspection, overhaul, and repair of the bomber, with much of the work focused on restoration of the bomber's Low Observable (LO) or stealth materials," the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs said in a statement last fall. But last October, the work was done in 379 days. The improvements to the maintenance process included doing the fuel inspection earlier to avoid duplicate work and conducting pre-inspections to identify issues ahead of time. "As any aircraft continues to age, you're going to see more and more issues that need to be repaired on a PDM line," said Col. Francis Marino, the B-2 system program manager within the Bombers Directorate, in a statement. He said that "the pre-inspection is great because it reduces the number of surprises at PDM." Maintaining the B-2's equipment and repair line is also critical. In May 2024, Northrop Grumman was awarded a substantial $7 billion contract for sustainment and support work, as well as planned upgrades. Better stealth and communications In order to keep the bombers hidden from potential countermeasures and threats, the Air Force has been at work on several important upgrades to its stealth, as well as its comms. Allen said that as part of a new program, the service is providing the B-2 with upgraded beyond-line-of-sight satellite communications capability, which "significantly improves the transfer time for real time mission planning data" and "will allow the operator to simultaneously receive and transmit voice communications and data which is an upgrade from what the aircraft currently has." The B-2's stealth capabilities, including its low-observable, radar-absorbent materials, are also being enhanced, which is set to further reduce its radar cross section, which refers to how the bomber appears to radar operators. The B-2 features a unique flying-wing airframe, edge alignment, and other technologies that dramatically reduce its signature across multiple frequency bands, making it difficult for enemy air-defense radars to detect, track, and target the aircraft. "Upgrading its avionics, sensors and communication systems are essential so that we stay ahead of emerging threats and enhance our payload and versatility," Lt. Col. Benjamin Elton, material leader, B-2 Integrated Capabilities Branch, said. Keeping B-2s in the fight B-2s will continue to be upgraded into the 2030s, when the Air Force plans to replace the aircraft with the new B-21 Raider, which is currently in initial production and testing after the plane took its first flight in late 2023. The B-21, also made by Northrop Grumman, will also replace the B-1 Lancer. Developments on the new bomber began in 2015. Many of the details on the B-21's abilities are classified, but it's expected that the aircraft will boast better stealth, payload capacity, communications, and sensors than its predecessor. That includes carrying weapons that haven't been invented yet. The costs and delivery dates of the B-21 program have shifted over the years, but it's expected to enter service this decade, and the aim is to produce at least 100 of them.
The Age
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Inside the B-2 bomber pilots' mammoth Midnight Hammer raid on Iran
In the hours after the strike, US military and intelligence officials were still assessing the damage both to the site at Fordow and to the Iranian leadership's psyche. 'Our hope is that the lesson that the Iranians have learned here is look, we can fly a bunker-buster bomb from Missouri to Iran completely undetected without landing once … and we can destroy whatever nuclear capacity you build up,' Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview on Monday. Loading 'I think that lesson is what's going to teach them not to rebuild their nuclear capacity.' The first 30-plus-hour B-2 missions took place during the 1999 war in Kosovo. At the time, the idea of flying a combat sortie and returning home in time to pick up the kids from soccer practice was still novel and a bit surreal for those flying. 'It is kind of weird to get dressed in your own bathroom and then go into combat,' one B-2 pilot told The Wall Street Journal in the early days of the Kosovo War. Since then, B-2 pilots have flown combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The B-2 bombers, which were built to carry nuclear weapons, regularly fly deterrence missions in Europe and Asia from their Missouri base. The past 25 years have taught the Air Force and its pilots a lot about flying long missions. Today, staff doctors and physiologists at Whiteman Air Force Base specialise in helping B-2 pilots prepare their bodies to spend long stretches in the cockpit. If they have sufficient notice, the pilots will try to adjust their sleep schedules so that their body clocks will be in sync with their mission. Each B-2 is flown by a two-person crew. The small cockpit has room for a toilet and space behind the plane's seats where a pilot can stretch out on a cot or a camping pad and take a brief nap. Both pilots are required to be in their seats during take-off, landing, aerial refuelling and for the duration of their time over enemy territory. The planes are also equipped with small heaters to warm food, but many B-2 pilots prefer simple meals such as sandwiches on long missions. 'You learn to drink a lot of water,' said Basham, who flew combat missions into Kosovo. The missions most likely played out in a similar fashion to the sorties that B-2 pilots flew in earlier wars. In those earlier missions, pilots saw anti-aircraft guns and missiles in the sky beneath them. This time, Pentagon officials said the Iranians did not get off a shot at the B-2s or their F-35 fighter jet escorts. In earlier conflicts, the B-2 pilots were dropping, at most, 2000-pound precision-guided bombs. This time, the B-2s each dropped two 30,000-pound munitions over their target. Basham could not help but wonder what it felt like to shed that kind of weight. 'It'll be interesting to hear from the pilots,' he said.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Inside the B-2 bomber pilots' mammoth Midnight Hammer raid on Iran
In the hours after the strike, US military and intelligence officials were still assessing the damage both to the site at Fordow and to the Iranian leadership's psyche. 'Our hope is that the lesson that the Iranians have learned here is look, we can fly a bunker-buster bomb from Missouri to Iran completely undetected without landing once … and we can destroy whatever nuclear capacity you build up,' Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview on Monday. Loading 'I think that lesson is what's going to teach them not to rebuild their nuclear capacity.' The first 30-plus-hour B-2 missions took place during the 1999 war in Kosovo. At the time, the idea of flying a combat sortie and returning home in time to pick up the kids from soccer practice was still novel and a bit surreal for those flying. 'It is kind of weird to get dressed in your own bathroom and then go into combat,' one B-2 pilot told The Wall Street Journal in the early days of the Kosovo War. Since then, B-2 pilots have flown combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The B-2 bombers, which were built to carry nuclear weapons, regularly fly deterrence missions in Europe and Asia from their Missouri base. The past 25 years have taught the Air Force and its pilots a lot about flying long missions. Today, staff doctors and physiologists at Whiteman Air Force Base specialise in helping B-2 pilots prepare their bodies to spend long stretches in the cockpit. If they have sufficient notice, the pilots will try to adjust their sleep schedules so that their body clocks will be in sync with their mission. Each B-2 is flown by a two-person crew. The small cockpit has room for a toilet and space behind the plane's seats where a pilot can stretch out on a cot or a camping pad and take a brief nap. Both pilots are required to be in their seats during take-off, landing, aerial refuelling and for the duration of their time over enemy territory. The planes are also equipped with small heaters to warm food, but many B-2 pilots prefer simple meals such as sandwiches on long missions. 'You learn to drink a lot of water,' said Basham, who flew combat missions into Kosovo. The missions most likely played out in a similar fashion to the sorties that B-2 pilots flew in earlier wars. In those earlier missions, pilots saw anti-aircraft guns and missiles in the sky beneath them. This time, Pentagon officials said the Iranians did not get off a shot at the B-2s or their F-35 fighter jet escorts. In earlier conflicts, the B-2 pilots were dropping, at most, 2000-pound precision-guided bombs. This time, the B-2s each dropped two 30,000-pound munitions over their target. Basham could not help but wonder what it felt like to shed that kind of weight. 'It'll be interesting to hear from the pilots,' he said.
The Sun
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Serbian leader to make first visit to Ukraine since invasion
BELGRADE: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who maintains strong ties with Russia, will on Wednesday make his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, the presidency announced. The Balkan nation with close historical links to Russia has maintained an official policy of neutrality throughout Moscow's three-year offensive on Ukraine and has denied arming either side. But in recent days Russia accused Serbian arms companies of 'trying to stab Russia in the back' by selling munitions to Ukraine. Just weeks before that, Vucic joined the 80th anniversary celebrations on Moscow's Red Square for Russia's victory over Nazi Germany. 'The president of the Serbian Republic will visit Ukraine for the day of Wednesday June 11, where he will participate in the Ukraine-Southeastern Europe summit,' the presidency said in a statement. Serbia and Ukraine have neither confirmed nor denied that Kyiv uses Serbian munitions. It will be the first visit to Ukraine by Serbia's head of state since Moscow launched its invasion more than three years ago. Vucic has attempted to walk a tightrope between traditional ally Russia and Serbia's desire to join the European Union, which is one of Ukraine's main backers in the war against invading Russian forces. Both Serbia and Russia share a dislike and distrust of NATO, particularly since the defence organisation carried out bombardments on Serbian troops in 1999 during the Kosovo War. Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Serbia refuses to cut ties with Moscow, despite voting against its long-standing ally at the United Nations. Belgrade is highly dependent on cheap gas it buys from Russia.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany plans to extend Bundeswehr mandate for three missions abroad
Germany's new government plans to extend the armed forces' involvement in international missions in Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and off Lebanon, as agreed in a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The Cabinet of Chancellor Friedrich Merz approved the extension of mandates for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the eastern Mediterranean as well as for the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the EU mission EUFOR Althea in the Balkans. "By continuing its participation in these missions, the German government is emphasizing its ongoing commitment to peace and stability," said government spokesman Stefan Kornelius. Before the extensions can take effect, the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, has to approve them. Soldiers of the Bundeswehr, as the German armed forces are called, have been employed as part of KFOR for 26 years, making it the longest foreign deployment. Despite the Kosovo War having ended in 1999, the international troops continue to be necessary to stabilize the security situation, said government spokesman Kornelius. Germany will continue to deploy a maximum of 400 troops to Kosovo, he said. Meanwhile, up to 50 soldiers will continue to be deployed as part of EUFOR Althea, an EU-led mission intended to ensure compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war in 1995. Up to 300 German soldiers will continue to support UNIFIL, which has been monitoring the border area between Israel and Lebanon since 1978. A Bundeswehr frigate has been deployed to the Mediterranean to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon's pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia.
