The aircraft was built to slip past defenses to drop nuclear and conventional bombs, including a 30,000-pound bunker buster.
The US military carried out a series of airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on Wednesday, using B-2 stealth bombers to hit targets underground.
The Pentagon suggested the B-2 Spirit’s involvement in the operation sent a message to American adversaries, such as Iran, that no target is out of reach or too far hidden from the US. The bombers were specifically built to take out hard-to-reach targets.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the US carried out “precision strikes” against five hardened underground weapons storage sites that the Houthis used to fuel their attacks against shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The US military said that the Houthi rebels stored missiles, weapons parts, and other munitions at the facilities, adding that US Navy and US Air Force assets, including the B-2s, were involved in the operation.
Austin said in a statement on the operation that “this was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified.”
The defense secretary said that using the B-2s in the strike operation demonstrates America’s “global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”
The operation marks the first known deployment of the B-2 in the US military’s monthslong counter-Houthi campaign, during which the Pentagon has relied heavily on its warships and fighter jets stationed in the region to carry out missions against the rebels.
