Image source, Jesus Olarte/Anadolu via getty imaages
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- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
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The United States government reported on Saturday that it attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran.
President Donald Trump described the operation as a “spectacular military success” that produced the “complete and total” destruction of three nuclear facilities: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahán.
This Sunday Washington confirmed that strategic bombers were used B-2.
Previously, an American official had told the Reuters news agency, with the condition of maintaining its anonymous identity, that such aircraft were used in the attacks.
Media as The New York Times (based on air traffic control communications) and The Washington Post (citing an American official familiar with the issue that spoke based on anonymity) they had reported that several B-2 aircraft had left the Whiteman Air Force base, in Missouri, at night between Friday and Saturday.
These types of aircraft are considered one of the most advanced military tools in the United States because they allow precision attacks against very complex objectives to penetrate.
“The Furtive Bomardo B-2 of the US Air Force. It is a key component of the country's long-range attack arsenal and one of the most survival capacity of the world,” says Northrop Grumman, the Global Aerospace and Defense Technology Company that manufactures it.
“The B-2 provides the flexibility and efficacy of penetration inherent to manned bombers. Their characteristics of low observability, or stealth, give it the unique ability to penetrate the most sophisticated enemy defenses and threaten their most valuable and strongly defended objectives,” says the United States Air Force website.
At any point “in a matter of hours”
According to Reuters, each American B-2 costs around US $ 2.1 billion, “which makes it the most expensive military plane ever built.”
“The scope of the bomber, of more than 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 km) without refueling, allows you to reach global attack capabilities from US continental bases. UU.”
It is that intercontinental scope that allows it to “reach any point in the world in a matter of hours,” according to Northrop Grumman.
The B-2 supported US military missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
“It premiered in operations during the Allied Force operation. Two B-2 flew more than 31 hours from the Whiteman Air Base in Misuri to Kosovo. They attacked multiple objectives and then returned directly,” the company said.
According to the company, the B-2 has the record of the longest air combat mission in history.
“In 2001, the Spirit of America and another five B-2 were the first to enter the Afghan Airspace in a record mission of 44 hours.”
The United States Air Force emphasizes that B-2 airplanes are difficult to detect, follow and attack by sophisticated defense systems thanks to a combination of characteristics related to its small infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signals.
“Many aspects of this low observability process remain classified; however, the composite materials of the B-2, their special coatings and the design of their wings contribute to its stealth,” he says on his website.
The aircraft has a crew of two pilots, “a pilot in the left seat and the commander of the mission in the right.”
Heavy load
The B-2 measures 21 meters long and 5 meters high and the distance between the ends of its wings is 52 meters, “half of the length of a soccer field,” says Northrop Grumman.
It can reach a high subsonic speed and an altitude of more than 15,000 meters and can transport a load of about 20 tons.
Image source, Planet Labs
The fordo complex is the underground installation that is believed consists of two main tunnels that house centrifugers used to enrich uranium, as well as a network of smaller tunnels.
To cause significant damage to the facilities, it is believed that they need to be attacked with an “bunkers” destructive “ammunition capable of penetrating deeply under the surface.
The United States has a bomb that could meet the task: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) of 13,000 kg.
And the B-2 is the only American bomber capable of transporting 6.2 m long MOP pumps.
Image source, HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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