B-2s, Which Would Be Needed for Iran Strike, Are Over Pacific

Multiple B-2s stealth bombers left Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and were flying west over the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, US officials said, hours before President Trump was to meet with his national security team to weigh bombing a nuclear target in Iran. The B-2 is the only US aircraft capable of carrying the 30,000-pound bombs that might be able to inflict damage on the underground nuclear enrichment site; it can carry two at a time. The US military has never used the bombs in combat. Tanker planes that can refuel the B-2s showed up in flight tracking data as taking off from Oklahoma and heading to Whiteman, the New York Times reports.

Experts said bombers carrying heavy payloads often take off with a light fuel load, then are quickly refueled. Data showed the tankers later turned back to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma. One official told the Washington Post that the bombers were going either to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam or to the US-British installation on Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. Another official pointed out that moving the B-2s can serve as a show of force, as well as a deterrent, while Trump decides what to do. Air traffic audio and tracking data indicate the bombers refueled again off the coast of California and over Hawaii, per CNN. (More US military stories.)