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An aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that if the Islamic republic is attacked, it will retaliate against the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv, official media reported on Sunday. "If the enemy attacks Iran, our missiles will strike Tel Aviv," the official IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei's representative in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojhtaba Zolnoor, as saying late on Saturday. His comments came as Iranian air defence forces were set to carry out five days of manoeuvres involving simulated attacks on the country's nuclear facilities.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that it is speeding up plans to deploy a massive bomb capable of knocking out deeply buried enemy facilities. The giant "bunker buster" is believed to add fighting power to the U.S. arsenal against Iran's nuclear program, defense experts argue. U.S. officials, however, have refused to confirm the connection. The 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator is capable of penetrating up to 60 meters of earth, or a thick layer of concrete, before exploding. It weighs more than 13 metric tons, allowing just one such bunker buster to be carried by U.S. bomber aircraft. "It is under development...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Amid continuing tension over political upheaval in Iran, the U.S. Defense Department says it wants to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound "ultra-large bunker-buster" bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations. The Pentagon has requested Congress to provide the necessary funding to ensure that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a next-generation bomb known as MOP and built by Boeing, would be ready by July 2010, spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Aug. 3. The non-nuclear weapon will be the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever deployed. It carries 5,300 pounds of high explosive inside a 25.5-foot bomb casing of hardened steel...

Defense: As the failure of engagement with Iran grows more apparent, the administration that has talked very softly may be getting the mother of all sticks ready. Guess we need high-tech Cold War weapons after all.Western intelligence sources have told London's Times that Iran has perfected the means to develop and detonate a nuclear bomb and is merely awaiting word from its supreme leader to produce its first one. Should the order be given, it would take just six months to enrich enough uranium and another six months to assemble the warhead. Time's up. Recently, and perhaps not coincidentally, Defense...

PALMDALE - As even the chief test pilot admitted Friday, the concept of a flying wing bomber, an airplane without a tail or fuselage that would be invisible to radar, seemed impossible. But the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber proved them all wrong when the batwinged wonder took off for the first time from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s facility at Air Force Plant 42 on July 17, 1989. The moment marked "the dawn of a true revolution in air power," said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman's B-2 program manager. "It's an aircraft like no other." The bombers - and those who designed, built...

May 12, 2009 -- A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies over the western Pacific Ocean during a refueling mission. The B-2 Spirit is assigned to the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed to Andersen AFB in "Tip of the Spear" Guam, USA, as part of the Continuous Bomber Presence in the Western Pacific. Via: http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htmThe Photographer  Senior Airman Christopher Bush, United States Air Force

B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs -- a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities. Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs. Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations -- some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers. In a recent NewsMax Magazine, Kenneth R. Timmerman's report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" predicted the U.S. would...

The US Air Force today revealed plans to acquire a small arsenal of a new 13,600kg (30,000lb) penetrator bomb to deploy on Northrop Grumman B-2As in three years. The USAF's public notice follows several years of testing the Boeing GBU57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is designed to destroy hardened bunkers buried deeply underground. The USAF plans to begin flight tests on the B-2A starting in June 2011 and reach operational status by June 2012, the USAF notice says. Integrating the MOP requires no changes to the B-2A's operational flight programme, avoiding a potentially costly and time-consuming recertification process. The...

June 12, 2009: After three years of effort, the U.S. Air Force has developed a new bomb rack for the B-2 bomber, so it can drop the new, 13.6 (30,000 pound) Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). Six years ago, MOP replaced the proposed nuclear bomb penetrator.

The Photographer  Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, 99th ABW, Nellis AFB, United States Air Force Photos (these are just the medium-size versions!) selected from http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htm

America’s 21 B-2A Spirit stealth bombers have been leaders in stealth technology and weapon support arrangements. Now, they’re a leader in a less desirable category. DTI’s Bill Sweetman reports that during a 2008 bandwidth auction, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission inadvertently sold the operating frequency band of the B-2 bomber’s Raytheon AN/APQ-181 radar to an obscure firm headed by a Russian-educated citizen of Mali. Installing new radar arrays on the 20 surviving jets will reportedly cost “well over $1 billion.” Sweetman notes that this is just one side effect of spectrum allocation problems, and greater civilian appetites for its use....

Are we going to have an October surprise, an attack on Iran by either the Bush administration or by Israel to stop the regime from becoming a nuclear power? It could happen - and alter the dynamics of the presidential race in the blink of an eye - but only if Israel pulls the trigger. Don't expect the United States to drop bombs anytime soon

The Spirit of Alaska sits quietly next to The Spirit of America (82-1066) and another B-2. Taken at Whiteman AFB, Missouri (Sept. 17, 2008)

Joe Pappalardo got some crisp, high quality military close-ups of the Spirit of Kansas, the $1.2 billion stealth B-2 bomber that crashed in Guam last February. We published other images of the crash scene before.  Head to Popular Mechanics to see the official timeline of the crash. [Popular Mechanics]

Tape of the Crash that happend a few months ago in Guam (B-2)http://gawker.com/tag/clip/?i=5014346&t=first-ever-stealth-bomber-crash-caught-on-tape

Apparently caused by humidity in its sensors.Video

The Air Force says the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in the sensors that forced bad readings. The moisture in 3 of the 24 sensors threw off the preflight data calibrations, which caused the flight control computer to force the aircraft to pitch-up 30 degrees on takeoff. That resulted in a stall and subsequent crash on Feb. 23. The "Spirit of Kansas," plunged to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. It was en route to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The...

1. B-2 Spirit stealth heavy bomber (left), B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber (center), B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber (right) fly in formation on 10 May 2008 for the 75th Anniversary of Barksdale AFB celebration. Large or medium photo via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (photo 12). 2. And here's the B-52 Stratofortress (left) and the B-2 Spirit (right) flying in formation on 10 May 2008. Large or medium or huge photo via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (photo 11). The Photographer United States Air Force Staff Sgt. Samuel E. Rogers, 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs, Langley Air Force Base

America's entire B-2 stealth bombing fleet, which has played a crucial part in all major conflicts since 1999, has been grounded after one of the jets crashed near a military base in Guam. The crash - the first involving the £610 million plane - was the most expensive single aircraft accident in history. A senior US military source told The Sunday Telegraph that all remaining B-2 stealth bombers were on a "no-fly" order and that there would be no further take-offs until the initial investigation into the crash had been completed. Officials assume the crash was caused by either mechanical...

HAGATNA, Guam - A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said. ADVERTISEMENT The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii. At least one B-2 bomber had taken off safely...

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here) http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

Defense: Democrats are balking at a White House request to fund the refitting of B-2 bombers so they can carry bunker buster bombs. It seems they're not interested in dealing with a real threat. "The drumbeats of war are beating again, this time against Iran, and we have to step in while there is still time," moaned Rep. Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, said through a spokesman. "We are not authorizing Bush to use a 30,000-pound bunker buster." Rep. Jim Moran, Democrat of Virginia, said he assumes the target for the bunker busters is Iran. Expect Moran to use his...

The TimesOctober 26, 2007 Now what would a huge US bomb be aimed at? Gerard Baker Nestled deep in George Bush’s latest $190 billion request to Congress for emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a tantalising little item that has received scant attention. The US Department of Defence has asked for an additional $88 million to modify B2 stealth bombers so that they can carry a 30,000lb bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator (or MOP, in the disarming acronymic vernacular of the military). The MOP is an advanced form of a “bunker buster”, an air-delivered weapon...

Nestled deep in George Bush’s latest $190 billion request to Congress for emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a tantalising little item that has received scant attention. The US Department of Defence has asked for an additional $88 million to modify B2 stealth bombers so that they can carry a 30,000lb bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator (or MOP, in the disarming acronymic vernacular of the military). The MOP is an advanced form of a “bunker buster”, an air-delivered weapon with an explosive capacity to destroy targets deep underground. Explaining the request, the Administration says it...

Bomb Iran? U.S. Requests Bunker-Buster Bombs White House Bomber Request Leaves Some Wondering if U.S. Is Preparing Action in Iran By JONATHAN KARL Oct. 24, 2007 — Tucked inside the White House's $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is an item that has some people wondering whether the administration is preparing for military action against Iran. The item: $88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP. The MOP is the the military's largest conventional bomb, a...

Global Security: The Air Force is busy modifying its B-2 stealth bomber fleet so it can carry deep-penetrating bunker-buster bombs, according to recent reports. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, call your office. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, known as the bunker buster, is a GPS-guided weapon that carries more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside a 20.5-foot hardened steel shell. Sounds formidable. It is. The Boeing-made bombs, which weigh 30,000 pounds each, are built to bore through dirt, rock and reinforced concrete at supersonic speeds to reach their targets: deep bunkers and tunnels. Once the steel has pierced the outer layers of the...

U.S. Outfitting B-2's with Monster Bunker Buster Bombs - Iran May Be Target NewsMax.com Wires Friday, July 27, 2007 The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs - a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities. Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs. Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations - some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers.

US Air Force B-2 Stealth Bombers Will Soon Be Fitted With Newly-Developed 15-Tonne Massive Ordnance July 23, 2007 DEBKAfile Reports American military sources say the gigantic new bunker-blaster is designed to hit fortified underground targets such as Iran’s uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz. It will be capable of drilling through many meters of earth or concrete. When it falls from a high altitude, the MOP – composed of 20% explosives, 80% hardened metal - will punch a hole in the toughest protective casing before exploding in depth. It is GPS guided. DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that Israel’s RAFAEL has upgraded its...

PALMDALE - The U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets using a new 30,000 pound-class penetrator weapon that Northrop Grumman has begun integrating on the aircraft. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal. The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which is being developed by The Boeing Company, is...

American stealth bombers will soon be equipped to drop the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the gigantic deep-bunker-blasting bomb currently being developed by the Yanks. Northrop Grumman announced the relatively cheap $2.5m stealth-bomber refit contract yesterday. An undisclosed number of the US Air Force's 22 B-2 "Spirit" bombers will each be able to carry a brace of 15-tonne MOPs in around seven months' time. The US Air Force says the B-2's stealth characteristics give it "the unique ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten his most valued, and heavily defended, targets". The MOP mega-bomb, second heaviest conventional weapon...

The U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets using a new 30,000 pound-class penetrator weapon that Northrop Grumman has begun integrating on the aircraft. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal. The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is being developed by The Boeing Company, is a...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman employees have begun work on a $171 million contract to develop and demonstrate a new extremely high frequency satellite communications system that eventually would enable B-2 stealth bombers to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than now. Expected to last more than five years and to be done in three phases, the first system design and development phase consists primarily of engineering work that will be based in Palmdale, with flight testing likely to be at Edwards Air Force Base\. "This SDD contract provides significant momentum for the work Northrop Grumman and...

My son was able to attend the Air and Sea show today in Ft. Lauderdale FL. The link is to the Flikr slideshow containing his pictures.

WASHINGTON - While no longer the dominant economic force in the Antelope Valley, the area's aerospace industry is still a vital part of the economy. Leaders of the Antelope Valley Board of Trade heard largely positive reports from representatives of the major aerospace companies during their annual visit to the nation's capital this week. In visits to the Washington offices of The Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. - they received updates on the companies' ongoing work at Palmdale's Air Force Plant 42 and Edwards Air Force Base and prospects for its continuance. One new topic...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp. will begin formal development of a new satellite communications system for the B-2 stealth bomber under Air Force approval, which was announced Wednesday. The new system ultimately will allow the bomber to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than today. The upgrades will be installed at the company's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, where the bombers were built and where major maintenance and modification work continues. The system will use extremely high frequency, or EHF, satellite communication. The current system uses ultra high frequency, or UHF. "Upgrading the...

China obtained secret stealth technology used on B-2 bomber engines from a Hawaii-based spy ring in a compromise U.S. officials say will allow Beijing to copy or counter a key weapon in the Pentagon's new strategy against China. Details of the classified defense technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an Indian-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii.

Saw a B2 Spirit while visiting Staten Island today.. It was a beautiful sight to see. Very quiet -- you wouldn't know it was over you until it was too late.. I've been waiting to see one for quite a while, and finally got a chance to. My son pointed out a plane to me, and I looked up expecting to see a passenger jet but instead saw the B2... :-)

I saw a B2 flying low over the Boston suburbs this afternoon. No, no pharmaceuticals were involved and I am well rested. Anyone else see it ? Was there an air show nearby ?

Just hours after Iran opened a new plant capable of making plutonium “for peaceful purposes”, U.S. President George Bush assured his Iranian counterpart that any B-2 bombers that appear over Tehran in the near future would also serve peaceful purposes. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut the ribbon on the new heavy-water nuclear plant Saturday as part of a month-long Iranian tribute to the effectiveness of the United Nations. Mr. Bush hailed Iran’s “transparent diplomacy” and said, “I called President Ahmadinejad today to congratulate him, and I told him that if he happens to notice one of them Stealth bombers going over...

Preparations are well under way for the Valley's premier aviation event - the Edwards Air Force Base Open House and Air Show. The free two-day event is set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 28 and 29, at the base that has been home to flight testing nearly every aircraft in the Air Force inventory - past, present and future. That heritage is reflected in the event's theme - "The Edwards' Edge: Making History, Reaching New Heights." This year's festivities also will honor the 60th anniversary of the Air Force, one of the first official events to do so. Headlining the...

8/8/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- At first glance, he looks like any other Air Force pilot: olive-green flight suit, polished boots and a bluish-gray flight cap with rank insignia prominently displayed. On closer inspection, you realize the little differences. His shoulder boards don't feature bars or leaves, but instead a combination of blue and gray stripes. When you hear him speak, his distinct accent tells you this is no ordinary Air Force pilot. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader David Arthurton is a pilot with the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, flying the B-2 Spirit bomber with the...

PALMDALE - Command of Air Force Plant 42 passed to a new leader Wednesday, as Lt. Col. Ronald Ortiz ended his three-year tenure and Lt. Col. Ronald Hirtle took over. The morning ceremony took place outside a hangar, against a backdrop of aircraft that claim Air Force Plant 42 as their birthplace: F-117 stealth fighter, B-2 stealth bomber, U-2 and the experimental X-37 spacecraft demonstrator. "If you look around at these airplanes, they speak for themselves. This is where the cutting edge of the Air Force is born," said Col. James A. Godsey , deputy director of the Engineering Directorate,...

Only about seven of the U.S. Air Force's 21 B-2 bombers are ready to go at any time, and now, a combination of robots, sprayers and quality control are trying to double the readiness rate. But for a long time, the B-2 has been known as a "Hanger Queen" (an aircraft that spends too much time in the hanger for maintenance or repairs). Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force introduced the use of robots to reduce the maintenance efforts required to keep their B-2 bombers flying. The B-2 uses a stealth (anti-radar) system that depends a lot on a...

PALMDALE: Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed an upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber that allows the aircraft to deliver five times its previous capacity of independently targeted, “smart'' (GPS-guided) weapons. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the B-2, which remains the only long-range, large payload aircraft that can penetrate deep into protected airspace. Combined with superior airspace control provided by the F-22 Raptor and global mobility provided by tanker aircraft, the B-2 ensures an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world. The SBRA upgrade program enhances the B-2's ability to respond to current and...

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Air Force officials announced March 16 that the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis will join the elite B-2 mission at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The announcement means the 131st Fighter Wing's Airmen will team up with the world's only B-2 long-range stealth bomber mission located at Whiteman AFB. The move will pair the 131st's Guard unit air crew, maintainers and support staff with the current active-duty B-2 unit. The 131st was selected from Air National Guard units nationwide to support the B-2s. "I am pleased that the U.S. Air Force found...

El Segundo CA (SPX) Feb 02, 2006 Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have successfully demonstrated the integration of a munition on the B-2 stealth bomber that incorporates an improved, penetrating warhead with an upgraded guidance kit. "The demonstration represents another example of our commitment to maintain the B-2's flexibility to employ a variety of advanced weapons," said Mike Galaway, director of B-2 product development and delivery at Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. "We also want to ensure that the nation's No. 1 long-range strike asset remains the most versatile and lethal bomber in the inventory."

NEW YORK, November 4: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested an Indian-American engineer for selling secrets of its high profile B-2 bombers to “foreign countries.” Noshir S. Gowadia, 61, who had designed the propulsion system on the radar-evading B-2 stealth bomber when he worked as design engineer for Northrop Corporation from November 1968 to April 1986, was arrested by the FBI from his home in Maui, Hawaii, last week. Originally from Mumbai, Gowadia is now in the Federal Detention Centre at Honolulu. He was living in Haiiku, Hawaii, for past six years. The offense is punishable by a...