The World Reacts: The Air Force Showed Off 8 B-2 Stealth Bombers at Once
Story by Stavros Atlamazoglou • Yesterday 7:27 AM
In early November of last year, the U.S. Air Force put up a rare display of nuclear power. Eight B-2 Spirit stealth bombers performed an elephant walk, essentially a parade of aircraft, at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
The Air Force has only 20 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers in its arsenal, and putting 40 percent of them in one play was a first for one of the U.S. military’s most advanced nuclear delivery methods.
The B-2 Spirit is set to be phased out by the B-21 Raider, which the Air Force and Northrup Grumman are set to reveal in the following days.
The B-2 Spirit elephant walk was part of Exercise Spirit Vigilance last year, which is designed to test the readiness of the B-2 Spirit fleet and also enhance the lethality of the crews.
Moreover, Spirit Vigilance was a prime opportunity for maintenance crews to test in a realistic situation the mass deployment of B-2 Spirits stealth bombers.
But Spirit Vigilance has more to do than readiness. The exercise offers the opportunity for some deterrence. U.S. adversaries and allies alike need to occasionally see and understand the capabilities of the U.S. military. To the former, that is a sign of power and can serve us deterrence; to the latter, is a sign of reassurance.
To be sure, there are limitations to that approach in deterrence, but it can be useful.
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