B‑2 spirit bombers strike Houthi depots, hint at Iran warning

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the attack. Aircraft from the 509th Bomb Wing, based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, participated. This base is home to American B-2 bombers, which in April 2024 performed a spectacular "elephant walk," a rapid launch of multiple aircraft preceded by an impressive taxiing maneuver on the runway.

According to experts, the deployment of B-2 aircraft may not have been dictated by operational necessity. The targets the "Spirits" destroyed could have been attacked using other means. However, deploying these highly expensive and limited strategic bombers is viewed as a demonstration of force toward Iran.

"This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach. (…) The employment of US Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate U.S. global strike capabilities," stated the Department of Defense's announcement.

The specific weapons used in the B-2's payload remain unknown. However, according to Milmag, the involvement of strategic bombers suggests that the underground warehouses might have been targeted with the heaviest bombs in the American arsenal, the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

This weapon was developed to destroy underground Iraqi military installations that had become so well-fortified over the years that, according to the Pentagon, traditional American precision weapons might not be able to destroy them. The GBU-57A/B bomb, almost 20 feet long and weighing nearly 31,000 pounds, was created for this purpose.

Due to its weight and reinforced body construction, the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator is capable of destroying targets hidden under a 130-foot layer of rock, a 200-foot layer of soil, or a 26-foot layer of reinforced concrete. If the speculations about its use are confirmed, this would mark the first combat deployment of this weapon in history.