Fleet of B-2 stealth bombers used to attack Iran return to Johnson County
Erika McGuire
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The fleet of B-2 Stealth Bombers that carried out airstrikes in Iran on Saturday has returned to American soil, landing Sunday afternoon at Whiteman Air Force Base in Johnson County, according to footage from CNN and ABC.
The base is the only one in the country that houses the nation’s stealth bomber fleet and is the sole operational base for the B-2.
Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed in an interview with ABC News that the mission was the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown. The longest mission on record occurred in March 2011 during Operation Odyssey Dawn, when B-2s flew nonstop for about 30 hours round trip from Whiteman Air Force Base to Libya.
The B-2 bomber remains a multi-role aircraft, capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions, according to the Air Force’s website.
Information from the Air Force says the aircraft was first publicly displayed in Nov. 22 1988, in Palmdale, California, and its first flight a year later on July 17, 1989.The first aircraft, Spirit of Missouri was delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base on Dec. 17 1993.
Since then, the fleet has been used in multiple combat operations like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. According to the Air Force, the B-2 completed its first-ever combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi freedom. It released more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions.
The B-2 reached full operational capability status in December 2002 and six years later on Feb. 1, 2009, the Air Force’s newest command, Air Force Global Strike Command, assumed responsibility for the B-2 from Air Combat Command.