The US had dispatched three B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers to its facility in Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory, to respond to rising regional tensions.
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Conant, BTF commander, said, “We are excited to return to this important location. (NSF) Diego Garcia puts the ‘INDO’ in US Indo-Pacific Command.”
“This Bomber Task Force is our National Defense Strategy in action. We are sharpening our lethality while strengthening relationships with key allies, partners and our sister-service teammates. Despite a global pandemic, the Airmen of Whiteman Air Force Base and Air Force Global Strike Command stand ready to support INDOPACOM and the Department of Defense in achieving our nation’s strategic objectives,” Lt Col Conant explained.
The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. A dramatic leap forward in technology, the bomber represents a major milestone in the US bomber modernisation program. The B-2 brings massive firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe.
The B-2 has a crew of two pilots, a pilot in the left seat and mission commander in the right, compared with the B-1B’s crew of four and the B-52’s crew of five.