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Reports indicate multiple U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, overnight on June 20 and June 21, heading west.
Two U.S. officials disclosed to Reuters that the flying-wing bombers were headed to the Pacific island of Guam.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Pentagon for verification. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond.
The flight data tracking site ADS-B Exchange also recorded flight tracking data corresponding to Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft fueling up a pair of aircraft operating under call signs MYTEE11 and MYTEE21.
It’s unclear if the deployment is connected to the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran, but it comes as President Donald Trump considers whether the U.S. military should join in support of the Israeli air campaign that began in the early morning hours on June 13.
Israeli forces launched a surprise attack they’ve cast as an effort to halt Iran’s nuclear progress and defang its offensive military capabilities. Israeli air strikes have targeted leading Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists, military facilities, and components of Iran’s nuclear program.
A remaining challenge in Israel’s ongoing campaign of airstrikes may be to destroy the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, which is situated hundreds of feet underground in a mountainous region of Iran.
One of the best options to destroy Fordow may be to use a 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb, known as the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The B-2, which is operated exclusively by the United States, is the only aircraft equipped to carry and deploy such a bomb.
Earlier this year, satellite photos showed B-2 bombers parked at Camp Thunder Cove on the small Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
One of the U.S. officials who spoke with Reuters about this latest B-2 deployment, said no orders had been issued to move the bombers beyond Guam.
Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Nimitz carrier strike group to reposition from the U.S. Indo-Pacific command area of responsibility to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East.
On June 19, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would decide within the next two weeks whether the United States would join in military action against Iran.
“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote: ‘Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,’” Leavitt said at a White House press briefing. (https://www.theepochtimes.com)
