The Long Arm: B-2 Spirit Sortie
Diego Garcia to Iranian heartland — 7,000km each way
Five B-2 Spirit stealth bombers launched from Diego Garcia (BIOT) carrying 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — the only conventional weapon capable of destroying hardened underground facilities like Fordow. The round-trip mission exceeded 14,000km, requiring multiple aerial refuelings over the Indian Ocean. This represents the longest combat strike mission in US Air Force history.
Key facts
- •GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — largest bunker-buster bomb in US arsenal
- •B-2 Spirits flew non-stop from Whiteman AFB Missouri — ~12,000 km round trip
- •Fordow FEP: built into mountain, 80+ meters underground
- •Natanz FEP: largest enrichment plant — 19,000+ IR-1 centrifuges
- •Largest B-2 strike operation in history by number of MOPs deployed
- •IAEA confirms entrance building damage at Natanz — underground FEP status unclear
Timeline
B-2s depart Diego Garcia, fuel loads and MOP payloads confirmed
Aerial refueling completed over Indian Ocean — 3x KC-135 tankers
Iranian airspace penetrated — zero radar detection
First GBU-57 MOPs released over Fordow underground facility
All 5 targets struck — B-2s begin egress south over Arabian Sea
B-2 Spirits depart Whiteman AFB, Missouri — 12,000 km mission begins
B-2s complete mid-air refueling over Mediterranean with KC-135 tankers
B-2s reach Iranian airspace — stealth profile maintained at altitude
GBU-57 MOPs released on Fordow FEP — mountain penetration strike
Natanz FEP struck — simultaneous second payload release
B-2s execute egress — no Iranian interception attempts detected
CENTCOM confirms: both Fordow and Natanz struck by heavy bombers
IAEA: entrance building damage at Natanz confirmed, no radiological release