US President Donald Trump has announced that the US has ordered 25 "brand-new B-2 bombers,” thereby doubling the total number of the aircraft in the US force. Trump’s statement came as the US reinforces military assets in the Middle East following the unrest in Iran.
Trump, during his 90-minute address during a Q&A after his World Economic Forum speech in Davos, said: “We just ordered 25 brand new ones—the latest and the greatest—the B-2 bomber, think of them. They went in there at two o’clock in the morning with no moon, no light, no nothing. And every single one of those massive bombs hit its target."
He was referring to how the B-2 bombers made a 37-hour round-trip from the US to Iran to destroy the Fordow nuclear lab buried deep within a mountain bunker in Iran last June. The new order of 25 B-2s will add to the 19 in active service.
Trump’s statement raised eyebrows as it came amid reports that he ordered his aides to come up with a decisive military option on Iran. Adding to speculation, Trump also boasted about the B-2’s success in Iran. "If we didn’t take them out, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two months," Trump said. "They were very close to having the nuclear weapon. We hit them hard, and it was a total obliteration. They were the bully of the Middle East. They’re not the bully of the Middle East anymore," he added.
These statements by Donald Trump came shortly after Mr. Khamenei's account on the X social network published a series of hostile messages addressed to Donald Trump, holding the US President responsible for the deadly violence and unrest in Iran.
Though the B-2s are over three decades old, the bombers remain the most dominant and powerful bombers in the world, thanks to its modern specifications. A B-2 employs a 1,000-fold faster computer processor, sensors able to alert crews of the location of enemy air defenses, a vastly expanded arsenal, digital cockpit upgrades and reconfigured weapons interfaces and fire control.