Spirits on the Footprint of Freedom
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber
B-2 Stealth Bombers Deployed To Diego Garcia Have Been Striking Targets In Yemen
At least six of America’s prized B-2 bombers are deployed to the island outpost and are now participating in combat operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway
The U.S. Air Force has used B-2A Spirit stealth bombers to attack Houthi targets in Yemen during the recent campaign against the rebel group, a U.S. official told The War Zone. That campaign began March 15 with a series of aviation and missile strikes against the Iranian-backed group. You can read more about the deployment of B-2s to the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia here.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details, declined to say how many of these aircraft were used, how often or when. The confirmation however, provides more context about the collection of these jets on Diego Garcia. CNN was the first to report that B-2s from that island attacked the Houthis.
Last week, a large force of B-2 Spirit bombers and other supporting assets deployed to Diego Garcia, which TWZ was first to report on. The latest satellite imagery, dated April 2, obtained by The War Zone from the Planet Labs archive shows at least six B-2s and six KC-135s on the remote island.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The B-2 is currently the only U.S. aircraft certified to operationally employ the 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bombs, and the Houthis have an extensive network of underground facilities that the MOP may be needed to strike. Each B-2 can carry two of these huge weapons.
Who else has extensive networks of underground facilities, hmmm?
Category: Iran, Middle East
Hypothetically, can a C-130 drop a GBU-57/B if there are no enemy air defenses?
Hypothetically they can carry one. Not sure about the deployment requirements.
Maximum Allowable Payload:
C-130E, 42,000 pounds (19,090 kilograms)
C-130H, 42,000 pounds (19,090 kilograms)
C-130J, 42,000 pounds (19,090 kilograms)
C-130J-30, 44,000 (19,958 kilograms)
Maximum Normal Payload:
C-130E, 36,500 pounds (16,590 kilograms)
C-130H, 36,500 pounds (16,590 kilograms)
C-130J, 34,000 pounds (15,422 kilograms)
C-130J-30, 36,000 pounds (16,329 kilograms)
BLU-82 is within that capacity:
It’s a solid maybe. The US has never done it nor plans to but there has been speculation. Until it happens it’s up in the air.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2020/10/30/could-the-israelis-really-drop-a-massive-ordinance-penetrator-bomb-on-iran-the-answer-may-be-yes/
Dead and buried in one operation.
No need for grave markers either.
Maybe just a small plaque: “Gone and forgotten”.
The crater could be the grave marker.
The sand chiggers just bury their dead in the desert anyway, no cemeteries, no headstones.
I would humbly submit these creatures’ inability to forget anything that ever happened is one reason why they continue to be a festering blight on humanity. Maybe say “Gone and best forgotten”!!
Wasn’t even anything left for the coyotes and buzzards.
“Boom goes London
Boom goes Paree.
More room for you and more room for me….”
Looks like we’re going to make a Spirited Attempt to make an Earth Shattering KA-BOOM for the Hooties. That’s the Spirit, Airedales…get you some! Betcha that the Hooties won’t see or hear it coming.
Cue up some Norman Greenbaum…
In Nam, a patrol my team did was to recon where a 12k or 15k bomb had been dropped on a hill. On approach, the jungle was dead silent. It was spooky. Getting closer the trees were shredded and it was like walking on a carpet. As we came upon the top of the hill we looked and there was no top of a hill – just a big dirt circle that was surprisingly flat. I can only imagine what today’s bunker busters will do.
I visited the Project Sedan hole at the Nevada Test Site. Now there is a crater I would wish on the Houtis.
NNSS-SEDN-U-0047-Rev01-1.pdf