Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit - Operational History

Operational History

The first operational aircraft, christened Spirit of Missouri, was delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, where the fleet is based, on 17 December 1993. The B-2 reached initial operational capability (IOC) on 1 January 1997. Depot maintenance for the B-2 is accomplished by U.S. Air Force contractor support and managed at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base. Originally designed to deliver nuclear weapons, modern usage has shifted towards a flexible role with conventional and nuclear capability.

The B-2's combat debut was in 1999, during the Kosovo War. It was responsible for destroying 33% of selected Serbian bombing targets in the first eight weeks of U.S. involvement in the War. During this war, B-2s flew non-stop to Kosovo from their home base in Missouri and back. The B-2 was the first aircraft to deploy GPS satellite-guided JDAM "smart bombs" in combat use in Kosovo. The use of JDAMs and precision-guided munitions effectively replaced the controversial tactic of carpet-bombing, which had been harshly criticised due to it causing indiscriminate civilian casualties in prior conflicts, such as the 1991 Gulf War. On 7 May 1999, a B-2 accidentally deployed five JDAMs in a target building that was actually the Chinese Embassy, killing several staff.

The B-2 saw service in Afghanistan, striking ground targets in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. With aerial refueling support, the B-2 flew one of its longest missions to date from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri to Afghanistan and back.

The B-2's combat use preceded a U.S. Air Force declaration of "full operational capability" in December 2003. The Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report noted that the B-2's serviceability for Fiscal Year 2003 was still inadequate, mainly due to the maintainability of the B-2's low observable coatings. The evaluation also noted that the Defensive Avionics suite also had shortcomings with "pop-up threats".

During the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom), B-2s operated from Diego Garcia and an undisclosed "forward operating location". Other sorties in Iraq have launched from Whiteman AFB. This resulted in missions lasting over 30 hours and one mission of over 50 hours. "Forward operating locations" have been previously designated as Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and RAF Fairford in the UK, where new climate controlled hangars have been constructed. B-2s have conducted 27 sorties from Whiteman AFB and 22 sorties from a forward operating location, releasing more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions, including 583 JDAM "smart bombs" in 2003.

In response to organisational issues and high-profile mistakes made within the Air Force; all of the B-2s, along with the nuclear-capable B-52s, and the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were transferred to the newly-formed Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 February 2010.

In March 2011, B-2s were the first U.S. aircraft into action in Operation Odyssey Dawn, the UN mandated enforcement of the Libyan no-fly zone. Three B-2s dropped 40 bombs on a Libyan airfield in support of the UN no-fly zone. The B-2s flew directly from the U.S. mainland, being refueled by allied tanker aircraft twice on the inbound journey and twice again on the way back across the Atlantic.

In August 2011, The New Yorker reported that prior to the May 2011 U.S. special forces raid into Abbottabad, Pakistan that resulted in the Death of Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials had considered an airstrike by one or more B-2s as an alternative; an airstrike was rejected due to concerns of damage to surrounding civilian buildings.