America’s most feared: The B-2 ‘stealth’ bomber that struck Iran’s ‘nuclear mountain’

Despite being more than 40 years old, the eerie batlike shape of the B-2 stealth bomber remains perhaps the most potent symbol of American military power.

It is currently the only bomber in the US fleet capable of dropping the huge GBU-57 bunker-busting bomb that analysts say is the only conventional weapon that could destroy Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility from the air.

President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed the United States had struck Fordow with “a full payload of BOMBS”, along with two other sites at Natanz and Isfahan. “All planes are safely on their way home,” he added.

A B-2 Spirit bomber lands at Palmdale, California.Credit: Northrop Grumman

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The New York Times that multiple B-2 bombers carried out the strikes.

Since entering service in the late 1990s, the B-2 has become the backbone of the US strategic bomber fleet. Most recently, in October 2024, several B-2s used an RAAF base in northern Australia as a staging ground to carry out strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen, including hardened weapons storage facilities.

Almost 30 years on, the B-2 still holds the record for the longest air combat mission in history, which took place in 2001 when an aircraft named Spirit of America took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and flew to Afghanistan along with five other B-2s in a 44-hour mission.

It then flew back to Missouri in another 30-hour flight to rack up a total of more than 70 consecutive hours in the air, including a quick pit stop for a 45-minute crew and service change with engines still running.

Manufacturer Northrop Grumman describes the B-2 as “one of the most survivable aircraft in the world” and the only one to combine long-range, stealth and a heavy payload. More practically for the two-person crew flying the mammoth missions, the cabin features a bed, a microwave and a toilet.

The B-2 began life as a secretive “black” project during the 1970s, with the aim of producing a bomber that could fly deep into the Soviet Union undetected by air defences using a pioneering, radar-deflecting design.

The original plan was to build 165 B-2s, but as the Cold War drew to a close in the late 1980s, this was drastically scaled back to just 21 aircraft, of which 19 remain in service.

A US B-2 stealth bomber lands at the RAAF base in Darwin.Credit: Glenn Campbell

Despite that reduction, the entire program still cost about $US2 billion ($3.09 billion) per aircraft. In 1996, the B-2 was predicted by US government auditors to be “by far, the costliest bombers to operate on a per-aircraft basis”, amounting to three times as much as the B-1 bomber and over four times as much as the veteran B-52.

Much of that money goes on its upkeep. The B-2 is a delicate creature that requires specialised care, including the air-conditioned hangars that can accommodate its 52-metre wingspan and are needed to keep its radar-absorbing “low-observable” skin in good condition.

Each plane reportedly costs more than $US3 million a month to maintain.

The B-2 made its public debut in 1988, and the first production aircraft – named Spirit of Missouri – was delivered to the US Air Force in 1993.

A B-2 bomber in flight.Credit: Northrop Grumman

Its first combat mission came during the NATO-led mission, known as Operation Allied Force, to Kosovo in 1999. Two B-2s flew more than 31 hours from Missouri to Kosovo, where they attacked multiple targets, then flew directly back.

The B-2’s performance in Europe soon earned it a reputation as a highly effective weapon. The stealth bomber flew less than 1 per cent of the total missions, but accounted for 33 per cent of targets destroyed during the first eight weeks of the Kosovo conflict, Northrop Grumman says.

After Kosovo and Afghanistan, the B-2s next saw action in Operation Iraqi Freedom and twice in Libya in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Odyssey Lightning.

A Northrop Grumman B-2 Stealth Bomber flying over Pasadena.Credit: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Early B-2s were given names by air crews such as “Shady Lady”, “Black Widow” and “Fatal Beauty”, although these have now been replaced by the more prosaic “Spirit of” titles taken from American states.

Underlining that mystique is the B-2’s string of Hollywood cameos. When a “super bomber” is needed to fight off a giant monster or an alien invasion, it’s usually a B-2 saving the day. Its movie credits include Independence Day, Armageddon, Iron Man 2, Cloverfield and, most recently, Captain Marvel.

But while the B-2 continues to be upgraded and enhanced, its days in active service appear to be numbered. The more modern, but slightly smaller B-21 Raider stealth bomber is due to replace it on the front line from 2032.

The B-21 Raider is America’s latest generation stealth aircraft.

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