The B-2 bomber is “an excellent platform to strike an enemy’s navy before it can put out to sea,” said Lt. Col. Todd Copeland, director of operations for the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, noting the bomber’s stealth, precision, and heavy payload capability. The unit’s bombers were fresh off a practice run against US Navy ships in Hawaii, reports TSgt. Steven Wilson. The B-2s deployed from Whiteman AFB, Mo. to Andersen AFB, Guam to fill the current strategic presence rotation in the Pacific and had just completed the latest Koa Lightning training run, flying from Guam to Hawaii and back. Col. Damian McCarthy, head of Andersen’s 36th Operations Group, said that most people think of the Air Force’s “stealth bomber taking out strategic, land-based objectives, but our airmen can put ordnance over anything, including enemy naval assets when required.”
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.