Latest news with #B-2s
Mint
an hour ago
- Politics
- Mint
Ukraine's drone strike is a warning—for the US
By now Americans know about Ukraine's remarkable drone strike on Sunday that damaged as many as 40 aircraft deep inside Russia as strategic bombers sat like ducks in a row on military bases. One urgent lesson beyond that conflict is that the U.S. homeland is far more vulnerable than most Americans realize. The details about Ukraine's daring operation are few, but Kyiv managed to sneak cheap drones across the border and use them to destroy costly Russian military assets. The bang for Ukraine's buck was considerable. You don't have to be a fan of thrillers to imagine a similar scenario in the United States. 'Could those have been B-2s at the hands of Iranian drones flying out of containers, let alone Chinese?" military analyst Fred Kagan asked this week. The U.S. strategic bomber fleet is small (about one-third the size it was in the Cold War) and concentrated at a handful of bases. See the aerial photo flying across social media of B-52 bombers lined up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The story is similar for fighters and capital assets like aircraft carriers. One lesson is that President Trump's planned Golden Dome missile-defense shield isn't the boondoggle it's portrayed to be in the press. The headlines are preoccupied with space-based interceptors. But the U.S. is exposed to many threats besides ballistic missiles—from drones and spy blimps to cruise missiles launched off submarines. The bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission warned in 2023 that the U.S. needs better integrated air and missile defenses against 'coercive attacks" from Russia and China, and such an attack could come from conventional weapons. In a crisis over the Taiwan Strait, Xi Jinping might threaten the Commander in Chief: Stay out of the Western Pacific or you never know what might happen to your pricey F-22s in Alaska. That's one reason the U.S. needs a layered missile shield that exploits new technology and existing systems like the Patriot. Israel's recent success shooting down drones with lasers shows that innovative and affluent societies can meet new threats. President Trump deserves credit for elevating missile defense as a presidential priority. But the U.S. has lost some basic muscle memory since the Cold War on living in a dangerous world. A prescient report this year from Thomas Shugart and Timothy Walton at the Hudson Institute warned about highly vulnerable U.S. airfields, especially in the Western Pacific. For the new B-21 bomber, the Air Force is looking at shelters 'akin to sunshades," Messrs. Shugart and Walton write, that could leave the aircraft 'exposed to threats, including lethal" unmanned aerial vehicles. 'Not building approximately $30 million" hardened aircraft shelters 'for over-$600 million B-21 bombers is an unwise decision that could endanger the US's ability to strike globally," they write. Such shelters always end up being a low budget priority compared with airplanes and missiles, and the message here is that defense spending can't stay at 3% of the economy and provide the security Americans expect. The bill moving through Congress puts up $25 billion for Golden Dome. But a national air defense won't be built by a one-time cash infusion, and the Administration is ducking a sustained defense buildup to mollify its fiscal hawks. Americans are accustomed to wars fought far from home by a force of volunteers, but everyone in the U.S. will be on the front lines of the next conflict. Political leaders could be doing much more to educate the country about this vulnerability, rather than boasting that the U.S. military is the best it has ever been. It isn't. Ukraine did the U.S. a favor by destroying bombers of a U.S. adversary—and sending America a wake up call about its own complacency.
Spectator
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
The Chagos deal is a disgrace
It has been in the background for a few months, but it seems Keir Starmer has now decided to resurface and sign his deal to pay Mauritius billions to take ownership of a British territory. The Chagos Islands, and the broader British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), are strategically significant. On Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, the only population either staffs or supports a joint British-American base. A base which is often used by the Americans; the base from which the B-2s ordered to bomb Iran's nuclear programme might take off. But all of this is to be surrendered to Mauritius and then rented back by Britain. Why? Because international courts, and the pretence of arbitration, say so. Mauritius has never owned the Chagos Islands, never had real claim to them.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
F-15 Eagles Deploy To Diego Garcia To Protect The Indian Ocean Outpost
The U.S. Air Force has sent a contingent of at least four F-15 fighters to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to help provide force protection for the island and the assets currently deployed there, which includes B-52H bombers. TWZ explicitly raised this possibility in April in a piece touching on evolving threats to the highly strategic Indian Ocean outpost and the vulnerabilities they highlight. 'The F-15s are deployed providing force protection,' an official with U.S INDOPACOM confirmed to The War Zone. We had some follow up questions and will update this story with any new pertinent details provided. TWZ first noted the F-15s in a satellite image of Diego Garcia taken on May 16, 2025, from Planet Labs archive. Whether these are F-15C/D Eagles, which the U.S. Air Force is steadily retiring, or F-15E Strike Eagles isn't perfectly clear, although they appear to most likely be E models based on their paint tone. Four B-52H bombers, five KC-135 tankers, a C-17 cargo plane, and a white-colored airliner with orange nacelles — most likely an SAS airlines personnel transport flight — is also viewable in the image. A review of additional satellite imagery from Planet Labs indicates the F-15s have been there since at least May 14. Diego Garcia has long been a highly strategic operating location for the U.S. military. Beyond its large airfield that sits in the center of the Indian Ocean, it plays many roles for the Department of Defense, including hosting Space Force operations, serving as a key port for U.S. Navy vessels, including nuclear submarines, and its lagoon provides shelter for a Sealift Command Prepositioning Ship Squadron. The island outpost drew particular attention recently after an unusually large force of six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers began arriving in March in a clear show of force aimed primarily at Iran. The B-2s subsequently conducted strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. The four B-52s now on Diego Garcia began arriving last week. For a very brief period, there were 10 U.S. bombers on the island, but the B-2s quickly began departing for home. Online flight tracking data indicates that the last B-2s left the island on or around May 9th. 10 US Air Force strategic bombers are at Diego Garcia as of to be seen is whether the B-2s will return to the States or stay for a while longer. — TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) May 8, 2025 Correction on the callsign, it's #CHIRO11. — EISNspotter (@EISNspotter) May 10, 2025 A satellite image from 9 May with 3x B-2 and 4x B-52 bombers in Diego Garcia. Source: MizarVision, a Chinese commercial satellite imagery company. Media reports and open-source flight data and air traffic control monitoring indicate that the B-2 bombers are leaving Diego Garcia. — Shahryar Pasandideh (@shahpas) May 11, 2025 Historically, Diego Garcia's remoteness has been seen as a natural barrier to attack by non-near-peer potential adversaries like Iran. However, as TWZ has previously noted, the threat ecosystem has steadily changed in recent years. As we wrote in a story about the island's potential vulnerabilities in April: 'At the same time, ever-growing threats emanate from Iran, as well as its regional proxies, that are no longer just defined by range rings around the Middle East. Iran has notably commissioned multiple sea base-like vessels that can be used to launch potentially large numbers of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as long-range kamikaze drones, all from hundreds of miles away, in recent years. The Iranians have also demonstrated missile and drone capabilities, including launchers in standard shipping containers, which could be employed from commercial cargo and other civilian ships. Iran already has a history of using converted cargo vessels as motherships for intelligence gathering and covert attacks. There is also the potential for Iranian operatives or proxies to infiltrate an area to launch more localized campaigns, including using smaller and shorter-ranged weaponized drones.' As noted, in that same story, we had also explicitly raised the question of whether a fighter contingent might appear on the island to provide force protection in light of those threats. Deploying to enhance security for a high-profile VIP visit is another possibility, although we have no indication that is the case at this time. Regardless, F-15s would be an ideal platform for this force protection role. U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles very pointedly demonstrated their ability to contribute to a layered defense against complex cruise missile and drone attacks while helping to defend Israel from threats launched by Iran last year. They are arguably the most experienced fighter community in the USAF for dealing with a high-volume drone and cruise missile threat. This is beyond the fact that the F-15E force is taking on a bigger counter-air role as the F-15C's inventory continues to dwindle. The Strike Eagles could also use their high endurance, large payload, and very capable sensor suite to detect and neutralize surface threats and provide non-traditional reconnaissance in the region surrounding the archipelago. It's also possible that these aircraft are indeed F-15Cs, which are also very well suited for the counter drone and cruise missile mission set. They bring some capabilities the F-15E doesn't have, including an infrared search and track (IRST) system. On the other hand, they would not be able to provide the air-to-surface capabilities that an F-15E contingent could. They could still provide limited reconnaissance support with the help of the Sniper targeting pods, though. While we do not know the intelligence or mission demand that triggered this relatively unprecedented force protection deployment to the island, if the potential threat picture at Diego Garcia is significant enough to warrant a fighter contingent, it highlights broader issues facing the Air Force and the rest of the U.S. military. Sending the six B-2s to Diego Garcia had added to an already heated debate about whether the U.S. military should be investing more in hardened aircraft shelters and other fortified infrastructure at key facilities globally. There are particular concerns about the vulnerability of airbases across the Indo-Pacific region during a potential future high-end fight with China. The airfield on Diego Garcia currently has just four specially designed B-2 shelters, which are not hardened. At Diego Garcia, 'we have multi-layered defense systems to ensure the security and protection of our personnel and equipment,' a spokesperson for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) had told TWZ in April. How long the U.S. military will continue to have a bolstered airpower presence at Diego Garcia, which now includes the F-15 detachment, remains to be seen. American authorities agreed to a ceasefire with Yemen's Houthis, brokered by the Omani government, last week. The United States and Iran are also currently engaged in negotiations over Iran's nuclear ambitions. U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled in the past that military action against Iranian nuclear sites, which could be carried out in part by bombers flying from Diego Garcia, could be on the table if those talks fail. This would heighten the need for force protection assets at Diego Garcia, as well as other U.S. facilities across the Middle East. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a U.S.-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran. Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest U.S. bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers. The Pentagon said it did not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy. Fresh talks between Iranian and U.S. negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran's nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned. The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January. Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called "Iran's red lines that could not be compromised" in the talks. Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen's Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
U.S. Deploys Bombers Near Iran As Trump Warns Of Strike If Nuclear Talks Collapse
/ May 11, 2025, 01:53PM IST The U.S. has positioned ten strategic bombers, including B-2s and B-52s, at Diego Garcia amid ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. Satellite imagery confirmed two additional B-52 bombers arrived within 24 hours, raising alarms of possible military action. Trump's team signals the return of the military option if talks fail, while Iran threatens massive retaliation. Watch
