In the largest deployment of stealth bombers in U.S. history, the Pentagon has sent six B-2 “Spirit” aircraft to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
The long-range bombers are particularly well suited to evade Iranian air defenses and can carry the most powerful U.S. anti-bunker weapons.
The move, made known only through commercial satellite imagery, is clearly aimed at Tehran: as one U.S. general stated, the B-2s carry not only bombs, but also a message for the Middle Eastern country: “Do you see our sword?”
Earlier in the week, President Trump spoke about the Iranian situation, stating that if the country does not give up nuclear power it will suffer “bombing the likes of which they haven’t seen.” Although the B-2 bombers have been used to target clandestine Houthi facilities in Yemen under both the Biden and Trump administrations, the deployment of the bombers to Diego Garcia Island was only disclosed when satellite imagery from the air base revealed the presence of six aircraft on the runway.
At the moment, the Pentagon has not released any communications about the deployment of the “Spirits” to Diego Garcia. According to Google Trends, moreover, searches for terms such as “B-2” and “war with Iran” have increased only slightly, indicating that Americans are not taking much interest in the matter, despite Donald Trump’s very harsh words about Tehran.
The B-2 was designed during the Cold War to be able to penetrate Russian territory for a possible nuclear attack. The plane’s stealth characteristics, which make it virtually “invisible” to conventional radar, enable it to evade even the most sophisticated air defenses.
Bombers also fulfill one of the Pentagon’s and the administration’s priorities in undertaking any use of force: making sure the risk to U.S. personnel is minimal. Although they are much more expensive to operate and even to deploy, the danger of one of the B-2s being shot down is less than that of ordinary fighters.
The movement of the B-2s into the Indian Ocean should not be seen as a prelude to an imminent war between the U.S. and Iran. According to several insiders, the move may also be merely a show of force on the part of the U.S. authorities.
