Summary and Key Points: The United States is rapidly deploying substantial air and naval forces, including B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, F-35 jets, and two carrier strike groups to the Middle East amid escalating tensions following recent strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
-Strategic deployments to Diego Garcia, an island safe from Iranian missile range, suggest readiness for potential joint operations with Israel against Iran.
-Israeli military limitations, including aged refueling aircraft and insufficient bunker-buster capabilities, underline the significance of American support.
-The U.S. presence, notably its massive bunker-buster ordinance, signals preparedness for strikes on Iranian infrastructure, especially Iran’s nuclear sites, underscoring a critical strategic shift in the region.
B-2 Bombers Getting Ready to Attack Iran?
Is the U.S. Air Force getting ready to strike Iran with B-2 bombers? Or maybe that’s what America wants the world to think.
The last 48 hours have seen a whirlwind of American air assets scrambling to Diego Garcia, a small British territory south of the equator in the Indian Ocean.
Satellite imagery and publicly available flight data show that a significant portion of the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber fleet is on the island, as well as close to a dozen air-to-air refueling tankers and C-17 cargo planes.
The movements, in conjunction with the recent shift of other air and naval assets to the Middle East, come on the heels of recent American strikes against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
Location, Location, Location
Diego Garcia is effectively out of range of Iranian weaponry. At about 800 kilometers or about 500 miles south of the equator, the island is about 1,800 kilometers outside the range of even Iran’s most long-range missiles.
Separately from all this, the United States sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, ordering the USS Harry S. Truman to extend its deployment by at least a month. At the time of the order, the aircraft carrier was operating in the Red Sea.
Thanks to the recent Signalgate scandal, in which a journalist from The Atlantic was inadvertently added to a Signal chat in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth disclosed precise operational details about planned strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, we know that U.S. Navy F/A-18 strike aircraft were involved, almost certainly from the USS Harry S. Truman.
USNI News also reported last week that the USS Carl Vinson and its destroyers and other components of the Carrier Strike Group would be sent to U.S. Central Command, one of six combat commands with an area of responsibility that covers the Middle East and Central Asia.
As USNI News notes, it will take the USS Carl Vinson and its Carrier Strike Group assets two to three weeks to transit to U.S. Central Command. With the USS Harry S. Truman’s extended deployment, there will likely be two Carrier Strike Groups available to U.S. Central Command.
The latest fleet tracking data is published by USNI News and is available here.
Open-source information also showed that the United States shifted F-35 stealth aircraft to the Middle East and potentially to Israel.
Previous Precedents
In 2020, six B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers deployed to Diego Garcia in the wake of the killing of Qasem Soleimani, then the head of the Quds Force, the intelligence and special operations branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In 2022, the United States Air Force deployed four B-2 stealth bombers to Australia, a move that was seen as bolstering support for a key American ally in the face of Chinese bombast and signaling to the wider Indo-Pacific region.
Israeli Strikes
With Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas severely battered following the Israeli campaign against them in the wake of the October 7th attacks, Iran’s position is precarious. These two forces’ now-limited combat potential, combined with the recent downfall of the Assad regime in Syria, leaves Iran without the buffer forces it funded and significantly exposed.
Israel’s strikes against Iran in November of last year reportedly destroyed all of the country’s Russian-supplied S-300 air defense batteries as well as other air defense assets and much of Iran’s missile production capacity.
Iran’s ability to defend against airstrikes is arguably lower now than it has been in recent memory, raising the prospect of a unique window of opportunity that the regime there is no doubt keen to close as quickly as possible, but providing an incentive for Israeli to execute strikes against Iranian infrastructure.
Israeli Limitations
The staging of significant American air and naval assets at Diego Garcia and elsewhere within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility is an essential show of force, especially when considering Israel’s limited military options against Iran.
Although Israel does operate a formidable fleet of strike aircraft, including specially modified F-15 and F-16 aircraft optimized to increase range and improve ground strike capabilities, as well as their own specially modified F-35 fighters, air-to-air refueling is a weak point for Israel.
Though the Israeli Air Force does operate a fleet of tanker aircraft, those assets are aged, modified 707 commercial airliners and older KC-130 tankers. A significant series of Israeli airstrikes against Iran would benefit greatly from American tanker support.
In addition, Israeli bunker-buster ammunition could lack the penetration depth and explosive payload to take out Iranian military installations deep underground reliably. The primary target of a deep underground strike could be Iran’s nuclear program.
However, American B-2 bombers are certified to fly and operate the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordinance Penetrator, a 27,000-pound bunker-buster weapon. That weapon’s unique capabilities could greatly enhance the effectiveness of a joint Israeli-American strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities — and each B-2 bomber can carry two of the bunker-buster bombs.
B-2 Spirit: A Photo Essay
U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit aircraft undergo pre-flight inspections prior to take off at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Aug. 11, 2016. More than 200 Airmen and three B-2s deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to conduct local sorties and regional training and integrate with regional allies in support of Bomber Assurance and Deterrence missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Miguel Lara III)
A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base completes a fly-over during the Sound of Speed Airshow at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, in St. Joseph, Missouri, May 1, 2021. The air show was hosted by the city of St. Joseph and 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard to thank the community for their support. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman Janae Masoner)
Crew chiefs assigned to the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron prep a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber for a hot-pit refuel, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, April 4, 2022. Exercise Agile Tiger promotes resilience, innovation, competitiveness and process improvement, all talents required to address today’s complex challenges. (U.S Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Christina Carter)
A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit “Stealth” bomber, 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., flies over the Pacific Ocean after a recent aerial refueling mission, May 2, 2005. The Bombers are deployed to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, as part of a rotation that has provided the U.S. Pacific Command a continous bomber presence in the Asian Pacific region since February 2004, enhancing regional security and the U.S. commitment to the Western Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo) (Released)
U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit aircraft undergo pre-flight inspections prior to take off at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Aug. 11, 2016. More than 200 Airmen and three B-2s deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to conduct local sorties and regional training and integrate with regional allies in support of Bomber Assurance and Deterrence missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Miguel Lara III)
A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, receives fuel from a 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker during Global Thunder 20, Oct. 28, 2019. Global Thunder is an annual command and control exercise that provides training opportunities for all of U.S. Strategic Command’s mission areas, tests joint and field training operations, and has a specific focus on nuclear readiness. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Trevor T. McBride)
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
