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Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned. The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government. In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles...

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A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber sits on the ramp at Andersen AFB in Guam "Tip of the Spear" USA. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060917.htm (medium, large) The Photographer Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, United States Air Force   Food For Thought From the September 2007 article "The Plane That Would Bomb Iran" by Robert D. Kaplan  http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2007/09/the-plane-that-would-bomb-iran/6133/   "The B-2 makes a statement. And that statement is, 'We mean business!'" He [U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert "Wheels" Wheeler] banged his fist on the table. Wheeler is the classic intense Air Force intellectual. He has degrees in both engineering and strategic studies and...

A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber soars over the Pacific Ocean. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20061021.htm (medium, large) The Photographer Tech. Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, United States Air Force  

Six hero pilots return home safe and sound from a bombing mission to Libya which saw them in the cockpit for an incredible 25 hours. Three B-2 Spirit bombers, piloted by two men each, made it back after the 11,418-mile round trip from the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - where they are kept in special hangars - to Libya, where they hit targets on forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and back again. At $2.1bn, they are the most expensive warplanes in the world and rarely leave their climate-controlled hangars. But when it does, the B-2 bomber makes a...

Sunday, 20th March 2011 - 09:57CET B-2 bombers in action over Libya - reports American B-2 bombers have been deployed over Libya, according to international media reports. Three of the bat-shaped radar evading bombers are reported to have dropped up to 40 bombs on Libyan airfields. Similar operations were performed in the past against airfields in Iraq. The US and Britain have so far said that they fired 112 Tomahawk missiles at Libya from surface warships and submarines in the Mediterranean. The UK said missiles were also fired from Tornado GR-4 bombers which flew from the UK, their longest bombing...

The Via http://www.flickr.com/photos/code20photog/4024791969/  The Photographer Ken Koller 

.: Northrop Grumman Corporation has begun flight testing the new computing hardware and communications infrastructure that will eventually allow the B-2 stealth bomber to send and receive battlefield information by satellite more than 100 times faster than today. Since Sept. 1, the company has conducted a series of test flights using a B-2 test aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight test program is part of Increment 1 of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2 Spirit, the flagship of the...

"The Spirit of Hawaii" -- a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber -- taxies to get into formation at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, USA, during the "Beast Walk" Exercise on June 22, 1998. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htm (medium, large)   The Photographer Senior Airman Jessica Kochman, United States Air Force  

Hunched over, her eyes fixed downward, Tanya Hart inches across the vast wing of the B-2 stealth bomber one small step at a time, looking for any nicks or hairline scratches in the freshly repainted surface. Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can. Hart, 50, is the last line of defense for what may be the world's most expensive paint job. "This isn't a job where you can afford to mess up," said Hart, a "surface technician" for Northrop Grumman Corp., which built the bombers and is now...

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (April 9, 2010) — The Missouri Air National Guard at Whiteman Air Force Base has approximately 20 new vacancies for traditional part-time Guard positions in the total-force-integrated 131st Bomb Wing, but the work will be anything but traditional and comes with high requirements since it involves duties with the B-2 stealth aircraft. “Working on the B-2 is not for everybody,” said Master Sgt. Krista Krause-Meier, Air Guard recruiter. “It’s for dedicated individuals who have integrity and a desire to make the Air National Guard a part of their life — whether for six years or...

Off the coast of Guam "Tip of the Spear" USA . . .1542 x 1024 pixels . . . 2262 x 1502 pixels . . . 3200 x 2125 pixels . . . 4288 x 2848 pixels . . . via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm   The Photographer TSgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo, United States Air Force  

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The new START treaty that would cut the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons could also prompt the United States to trim the bomber leg of its nuclear force. Limits that reduce the number of deployed "launchers" to 700 could encourage U.S. nuclear policy makers to rely more on land-based and sea-based ballistic missiles and less on B-2 and B-52 bombers, said Tom Collina, research director at the Arms Control Association. "The bomber leg of the triad is not what you think about when you think about survivability and quick response," he said. At present, the United States has...

What do B-2 bombers and nuclear submarines have in common? Both cost about the same and both require periodic, and expensive, refurbishment. The U.S. B-2 bomber is the most expensive warplane ever to enter service. The 21 that were built ended up costing over $2 billion each. About half of that was development expense. At the time these aircraft were built (in the 1990s), they cost as much as a major warship. The B-2 has similar needs, including periodic (every seven years), lengthy (13 months) refurbishment (programmed depot maintenance, or PDM). Most of the PDM is devoted to refurbishing structural...

This is a rare aerial recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PixDnc7c6P4) of two USAF F-22A Raptor stealth fighter jets and one USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying together over the Pacific region's "tip of the spear" -- Guam, United States of America. The F-22A Raptor and B-2 Spirit are the world's most advanced military aircraft, designed and made in the U.S.A; and paid for by We the People of the U.S. of A. Watching these remarkable defenders of freedom fly together -- flown by the best pilots in the world -- makes one proud and thankful and glad to be a citizen of this...

Northrop Grumman has returned to service with the U.S. Air Force a freshly painted, completely overhauled B-2 stealth bomber known as the "Spirit of Pennsylvania." The aircraft lifted off from Air Force Plant 42 here early in the morning on Jan. 26 for its return flight to Whiteman Air Force Base, operational home of the Air Force's 509th Bomb Wing and the nation's fleet of B-2s. "The Spirit of Pennsylvania is the latest B-2 to complete a comprehensive overhaul process called programmed depot maintenance (PDM) that we perform in Palmdale on every B-2 every seven years," said Dave Mazur, vice...

Northrop Grumman Corporation technicians here have begun installing the first set of hardware for a B-2 stealth bomber upgrade that will eventually allow the jet to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than its current satellite communications system. The work is being done as part of Increment 1 of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2 Spirit, the flagship of the nation's long range strike arsenal, and one of the world's most survivable aircraft systems. The B-2 is the only...

2260 x 1501 pixels . . . 3200 x 2125 pixels . . . 4288 x 2848 pixels . . . via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm The Photographer TSgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo, United States Air Force  

More than 240 Airmen assigned to the 393rd Bomb Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrived on Andersen recently to support the deployment of B-2 Spirit aircraft as part of the continuous bomber presence here. The Airmen and aircraft replaced the service members and the B-52 Stratofortresses deployed from the 20th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La. Andersen AFB has had bombers present on its runway since 2004, the year the CBP mission began. The B-2's stealth characteristics give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued and heavily defended targets. The bomber's...

It is among the U.S. Air Force’s most finite resources, but the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is still growing in capabilities, and it’s an aircraft America is happy to allow an ally to use. A long-standing exchange program that has seen USAF personnel trade places with those from the Royal Air Force was extended to the B-2 in 2004. The offer to open up the secretive B-2 mission to a key ally was made by then-President George W. Bush in an e-mail to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Among the achievements of the first British pilot, Sqn. Ldr. David Arthurton, was...

1. USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, with a Prandtl-Glauert Condensation Cloud, over the Pacific Ocean photographed by Bobbi Garcia. More info about the photo: http://web.archive.org/web/20031205232202/www.edwards.af.mil/archive/2003/2003-archive-garcia_photo.html Watch the first 15 seconds of this video: http://www.as.northropgrumman.com/products/b2spirit/assets/vm_b2_tx.wmv Via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20040817.htm 2. USAF B-52 Stratofortress loaded with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) photographed by USAF Tech Sgt. Richard Freeland on 15 April 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm 3. USAF B-1B Lancer bomber with a Prandtl-Glauert Condensation Cloud photographed in Southwest Asia by USAF Staff Sgt. Shelley R. Gill on 16 January 2004. Via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20041216.htm 4. B-2 Spirit, BUFF, and BONE photographed by USAF...

An aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that if the Islamic republic is attacked, it will retaliate against the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv, official media reported on Sunday. "If the enemy attacks Iran, our missiles will strike Tel Aviv," the official IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei's representative in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojhtaba Zolnoor, as saying late on Saturday. His comments came as Iranian air defence forces were set to carry out five days of manoeuvres involving simulated attacks on the country's nuclear facilities.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that it is speeding up plans to deploy a massive bomb capable of knocking out deeply buried enemy facilities. The giant "bunker buster" is believed to add fighting power to the U.S. arsenal against Iran's nuclear program, defense experts argue. U.S. officials, however, have refused to confirm the connection. The 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator is capable of penetrating up to 60 meters of earth, or a thick layer of concrete, before exploding. It weighs more than 13 metric tons, allowing just one such bunker buster to be carried by U.S. bomber aircraft. "It is under development...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Amid continuing tension over political upheaval in Iran, the U.S. Defense Department says it wants to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound "ultra-large bunker-buster" bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations. The Pentagon has requested Congress to provide the necessary funding to ensure that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a next-generation bomb known as MOP and built by Boeing, would be ready by July 2010, spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Aug. 3. The non-nuclear weapon will be the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever deployed. It carries 5,300 pounds of high explosive inside a 25.5-foot bomb casing of hardened steel...

Defense: As the failure of engagement with Iran grows more apparent, the administration that has talked very softly may be getting the mother of all sticks ready. Guess we need high-tech Cold War weapons after all.Western intelligence sources have told London's Times that Iran has perfected the means to develop and detonate a nuclear bomb and is merely awaiting word from its supreme leader to produce its first one. Should the order be given, it would take just six months to enrich enough uranium and another six months to assemble the warhead. Time's up. Recently, and perhaps not coincidentally, Defense...

PALMDALE - As even the chief test pilot admitted Friday, the concept of a flying wing bomber, an airplane without a tail or fuselage that would be invisible to radar, seemed impossible. But the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber proved them all wrong when the batwinged wonder took off for the first time from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s facility at Air Force Plant 42 on July 17, 1989. The moment marked "the dawn of a true revolution in air power," said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman's B-2 program manager. "It's an aircraft like no other." The bombers - and those who designed, built...

May 12, 2009 -- A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies over the western Pacific Ocean during a refueling mission. The B-2 Spirit is assigned to the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed to Andersen AFB in "Tip of the Spear" Guam, USA, as part of the Continuous Bomber Presence in the Western Pacific. Via: http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htmThe Photographer  Senior Airman Christopher Bush, United States Air Force

B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs -- a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities. Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs. Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations -- some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers. In a recent NewsMax Magazine, Kenneth R. Timmerman's report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" predicted the U.S. would...

The US Air Force today revealed plans to acquire a small arsenal of a new 13,600kg (30,000lb) penetrator bomb to deploy on Northrop Grumman B-2As in three years. The USAF's public notice follows several years of testing the Boeing GBU57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is designed to destroy hardened bunkers buried deeply underground. The USAF plans to begin flight tests on the B-2A starting in June 2011 and reach operational status by June 2012, the USAF notice says. Integrating the MOP requires no changes to the B-2A's operational flight programme, avoiding a potentially costly and time-consuming recertification process. The...

June 12, 2009: After three years of effort, the U.S. Air Force has developed a new bomb rack for the B-2 bomber, so it can drop the new, 13.6 (30,000 pound) Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). Six years ago, MOP replaced the proposed nuclear bomb penetrator.

The Photographer  Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, 99th ABW, Nellis AFB, United States Air Force Photos (these are just the medium-size versions!) selected from http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htm

America’s 21 B-2A Spirit stealth bombers have been leaders in stealth technology and weapon support arrangements. Now, they’re a leader in a less desirable category. DTI’s Bill Sweetman reports that during a 2008 bandwidth auction, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission inadvertently sold the operating frequency band of the B-2 bomber’s Raytheon AN/APQ-181 radar to an obscure firm headed by a Russian-educated citizen of Mali. Installing new radar arrays on the 20 surviving jets will reportedly cost “well over $1 billion.” Sweetman notes that this is just one side effect of spectrum allocation problems, and greater civilian appetites for its use....

Are we going to have an October surprise, an attack on Iran by either the Bush administration or by Israel to stop the regime from becoming a nuclear power? It could happen - and alter the dynamics of the presidential race in the blink of an eye - but only if Israel pulls the trigger. Don't expect the United States to drop bombs anytime soon

The Spirit of Alaska sits quietly next to The Spirit of America (82-1066) and another B-2. Taken at Whiteman AFB, Missouri (Sept. 17, 2008)

Joe Pappalardo got some crisp, high quality military close-ups of the Spirit of Kansas, the $1.2 billion stealth B-2 bomber that crashed in Guam last February. We published other images of the crash scene before.  Head to Popular Mechanics to see the official timeline of the crash. [Popular Mechanics]

Tape of the Crash that happend a few months ago in Guam (B-2)http://gawker.com/tag/clip/?i=5014346&t=first-ever-stealth-bomber-crash-caught-on-tape

Apparently caused by humidity in its sensors.Video

The Air Force says the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in the sensors that forced bad readings. The moisture in 3 of the 24 sensors threw off the preflight data calibrations, which caused the flight control computer to force the aircraft to pitch-up 30 degrees on takeoff. That resulted in a stall and subsequent crash on Feb. 23. The "Spirit of Kansas," plunged to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. It was en route to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The...

1. B-2 Spirit stealth heavy bomber (left), B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber (center), B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber (right) fly in formation on 10 May 2008 for the 75th Anniversary of Barksdale AFB celebration. Large or medium photo via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (photo 12). 2. And here's the B-52 Stratofortress (left) and the B-2 Spirit (right) flying in formation on 10 May 2008. Large or medium or huge photo via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (photo 11). The Photographer United States Air Force Staff Sgt. Samuel E. Rogers, 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs, Langley Air Force Base

America's entire B-2 stealth bombing fleet, which has played a crucial part in all major conflicts since 1999, has been grounded after one of the jets crashed near a military base in Guam. The crash - the first involving the £610 million plane - was the most expensive single aircraft accident in history. A senior US military source told The Sunday Telegraph that all remaining B-2 stealth bombers were on a "no-fly" order and that there would be no further take-offs until the initial investigation into the crash had been completed. Officials assume the crash was caused by either mechanical...

HAGATNA, Guam - A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said. ADVERTISEMENT The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii. At least one B-2 bomber had taken off safely...

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here) http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

Defense: Democrats are balking at a White House request to fund the refitting of B-2 bombers so they can carry bunker buster bombs. It seems they're not interested in dealing with a real threat. "The drumbeats of war are beating again, this time against Iran, and we have to step in while there is still time," moaned Rep. Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, said through a spokesman. "We are not authorizing Bush to use a 30,000-pound bunker buster." Rep. Jim Moran, Democrat of Virginia, said he assumes the target for the bunker busters is Iran. Expect Moran to use his...

The TimesOctober 26, 2007 Now what would a huge US bomb be aimed at? Gerard Baker Nestled deep in George Bush’s latest $190 billion request to Congress for emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a tantalising little item that has received scant attention. The US Department of Defence has asked for an additional $88 million to modify B2 stealth bombers so that they can carry a 30,000lb bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator (or MOP, in the disarming acronymic vernacular of the military). The MOP is an advanced form of a “bunker buster”, an air-delivered weapon...

Nestled deep in George Bush’s latest $190 billion request to Congress for emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a tantalising little item that has received scant attention. The US Department of Defence has asked for an additional $88 million to modify B2 stealth bombers so that they can carry a 30,000lb bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator (or MOP, in the disarming acronymic vernacular of the military). The MOP is an advanced form of a “bunker buster”, an air-delivered weapon with an explosive capacity to destroy targets deep underground. Explaining the request, the Administration says it...

Bomb Iran? U.S. Requests Bunker-Buster Bombs White House Bomber Request Leaves Some Wondering if U.S. Is Preparing Action in Iran By JONATHAN KARL Oct. 24, 2007 — Tucked inside the White House's $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is an item that has some people wondering whether the administration is preparing for military action against Iran. The item: $88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP. The MOP is the the military's largest conventional bomb, a...