There has been a surprising turn of events after a high-risk U.S. Air Force operation against Iran's nuclear facilities, as one of the two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers used in a decoy mission was said to have failed to return to base.
In a story dated June 27, EurAsian Times reported that the United States sent two different groups of B-2 bombers from the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on June 21.
One took off towards Iranian targets in the east, and the other went towards the west in the Pacific Ocean, seemingly as a strategic move aimed at confusing Iranian air defence systems.
The strike group of seven B-2s effectively targeted Iran's hardened nuclear facilities in Natanz and Fordo and made the approximately 37-hour round trip uneventfully. Still, the whereabouts of the decoy group are uncertain.
Early reports suggest that at least one of the westbound bombers made an unplanned landing in Hawaii. The stealth plane reportedly touched down at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, which uses the facilities of Hickam Air Force Base. Video footage of the landing has been seen on the Internet, but official word on the status of the plane or the cause of the emergency is still pending.
This is not the first time a B-2 Spirit has had issues traveling to or from the Pacific. The same happened in April of 2023 with a similar emergency landing at Hickam, after a different B-2 crashed in Missouri in late 2022 that resulted in the temporary grounding of the entire fleet.
In a few instances, afflicted B-2s took weeks to inspect on location or transport to specialized centers. In one instance, a B-2 that was involved in an incident in 2021 was sent to Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, facility to be repaired.
The worst B-2 accident to date occurred in 2008, when the "Spirit of Kansas" crashed after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The pilots ejected safely, but the aircraft was destroyed.
The B-2 Spirit is still a bedrock of America's long-range strike and nuclear deterrent. With cutting-edge stealth capabilities and global reach, the bomber is a key player in strategic operations—even as questions now abound about the recent Pacific incident.
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