How did the B-2
stealth plane manage to fly for 37 hours on
the day Iran was struck? How did its crew survive?
Most recent reports indicate that in its attack on 3 nuclear sites in Iran, one of
which is fortified inside a mountain, the US military used B-2 Spirit stealth
bombers.How were they able to fly for dozens of hours?
The B-2
stealth bombers used to attack
the Fordow Nuclear Enrichment Plant are equipped with toilets
microwaves
and usually a snack cooler, to make life easier for pilots stuck in
the cockpit during a 37-hour round-trip flight from Missouri to Iran.
The fleet of
- advanced American bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base
- outside Kansas City on Friday on an 18-hour round-the-world flight
- refueling several times in the air, officials said.
For such long flights to be possible, the high-tech bomber cockpits were
equipped with small refrigerators and microwaves to keep the crew fed and alert.
Like any aircraft equipped for long flights, the B-2 Spirit also has a bathroom.
It also has enough space for one pilot to lie down to rest
while the other flies the plane with its bat-like wings.
The B-2
first entered service in 1997, and each one costs more than $2 billion.
The U.S.Air Force has a fleet of 19, having lost one in a 2008 crash.
The plane has
a wingspan of 172 feet, is piloted by only two pilots
and relies heavily on automated systems to complete long flights.
A report
by The Telegraph newspaper stated that the seven B-2 aircraft deployed in
the operation called "Midnight Hammer" flew in near radio silence
with the two-man crew taking turns sleeping during the tense night.
The 37-hour
- mission to Fordow constituted the longest mission carried out by a B-2
- bomber since the first American attack on Afghanistan
- following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
According to The Atlantic
pilots of this type of aircraft are trained to endure long, grueling flights
and some crews have previously brought folding beds or even full camping mats.
The stealth bombers were not alone throughout the mission, as a fleet of fighter
aircraft and air support were deployed to join them as they approached Iran.
"The B-2 :
aircraft docked with escort
and support :
aircraft in a complex and precisely timed maneuver, requiring precise
- coordination between several platforms within a narrow airspace
- all done with minimal communications," Gen.Daniel Cain
- chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement.
The 25-minute operation inside Iran began on Saturday at 6:40 p.m.East Coast
time, when the lead B-2 bomber dropped two GBU-57 bunker-busting bombs on
"the first multiple targets at the Fordow facility," according to Cain.
"The other bombers also hit their targets, with a total of 14 bunker
buster bombs (MOPs) dropped on two nuclear target areas," he said.
It was :
- the first use of the GBU-57
- bulky bunker buster bombs
- weighing 15 tonsin a military attack.
It is noteworthy that :
Trump announced at dawn on Sunday that the US army had carried out an attack
on 3 Iranian nuclear sites, saying: "We carried out our very successful attack on
the three nuclear sites in Iran, which are Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.".
In his first comment on this :
he added :
"All aircraft are now outside Iranian :
airspace. A full load of bombs was dropped on the main site, Fordow. All aircraft
are safely home," he said. Congratulations to our great American warriors.
There is no other army in the world that can do this," he said.
He concluded his post on the Truth Social platform
by saying:
"Now is the time for peace! Thanks for your attention on this," he said.
