One of the B-2 Spirits that was used as a feint, heading west over the Pacific with an armada of tankers strung along the way, while the real strike force headed east over the Atlantic to hit Iran, had to divert in Hawaii and is still there. Emergency diversions of this kind into Honolulu seem to be an increasingly common occurrence for the notoriously complex, maintenance-intensive, and aging B-2 stealth bomber force.

On June 21st, 2025, aircraft trackers watched with great interest as B-2s headed west out over the Pacific in what seemed clearly to be a major move to at least be in place to strike Iran if the call came. This was all an elaborate ruse purposely built to leverage the online open source intelligence community — usually a pain in war planners’ sides — to propagate a massive misdirection. We still don’t know the full details behind this operation. In fact, we know less about this sleight of hand than the actual B-2 strikes on Iran. But it seems a smaller number of bombers — possibly just two B-2s — were involved with a tanker force acting as if they were supporting a larger bomber contingent. Various outlets, citing anonymous U.S. officials, had originally reported that the B-2s were headed to Guam, which didn’t exactly make sense at the time.

One of the decoy B-2s had to make an emergency landing at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, which is co-located with Hickam Air Force Base. Part of Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, the installation serves as a home base primarily for F-22s, C-17s, and KC-135s, but also as a sprawling hub that supports operations across the Indo-Pacific. B-2s have stopped at Hickam and even flown sustained forward operations out of there in the past. They have also diverted there and called the base home until a plan to fix them is devised and implemented. In 2023, one B-2 in particular stayed far longer than expected after it diverted to the airfield due to an emergency just as the entire force of stealth bombers was starting what turned out to be a six-month-long grounding. That was implemented after a B-2 crashed during landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

David Martin (@Sir_DavidMartin) posted a short clip of the stricken B-2 sitting on an apron at Honolulu International yesterday, with a police car sitting nearby to keep an eye on it. The jet diverted to Honolulu under the callsign MYTEE 14. It remains there today, according to low-resolution, commercially available satellite imagery. Depending on how badly the jet is broken and in what manner, the logistics of fixing it thousands of miles from its home base can be complicated.

“We will not comment on movement, deployment or posturing of forces,” Charles Hoffman, Chief of Media Operations at Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), told TWZ when asked about the B-2 in Hawaii. “Air Force Global Strike Command maintains the capability to provide global strike anywhere, at the time of the President of the United States’ choosing. Our forces are always ready to work alone or fully integrate with our many allies and partners. We continue to work toward delivering the promise of peace through strength.”

While the B-2 fleet remains uniquely capable and in high demand, it’s now in the twilight of its career. Maintaining these aircraft has always been hideously expensive, but the ‘silver bullet’ capabilities they provide, plus the knowledge base that they have built when it comes to operating and sustaining a flying wing stealth bomber, have been extremely valuable. With just 19 remaining in operation, they are truly the definition of a low-density, high-value asset.

Upgrades in recent years have aimed to keep the tiny B-2 force relevant and supportable, as many of the 1980s components for the stealth bombers are long out of production. The enhancements have also looked to curb operational cost growth, especially when it comes to maintaining the jet’s notoriously finicky and highly classified, low-observable coatings. Along with cockpit and systems upgrades, these measures will keep the B-2 relevant and ready until the B-21 Raider can take over, and hopefully in far greater numbers. This is essential as the B-2’s survivability against a peer threat is waning.

As such, the B-21 is a can’t fail program, and thankfully it seems to be relatively on track and on budget, bucking the procurement curse of its progenitor.

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The top US general said it appears Iran never saw the B-2 bombers that hit it. Here's why they could have gone undetected.

• US B-2 Spirit bombers weren't detected during the strikes on Iran, US officials said.

• B-2s feature low-observability, stealthy designs and technologies that obscure their signature on enemy radars.

• US deception and Iran's degraded air defenses also likely factored into the B-2s' success.

The US Air Force's B-2 Spirit bombers that executed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities appear to have broken in undetected, the top US general said.

"It appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us," Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday. "Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise."

The degradation of Iran's air defense network ahead of and during the US bombing run, the purposeful deception, and the stealth features of the bombers and escort aircraft make that very possible.

The US strike on Iran over the weekend was the largest B-2 operational strike in US history, as seven of these bombers, each with two crew members, flew 18 hours into Iran to drop 14 30,000-pound bunker-buster munitions. It was the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown. Though touted as a major success, its impact on Iran's nuclear program remains hotly debated.

Stealth bombers

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit strategic bomber features a unique flying-wing airframe, radar-absorbent materials, edge alignment, and other low-observable technologies that dramatically reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section across multiple frequency bands, making it difficult for enemy air-defense radars to detect, track, or target.

For an operator, the radar signature might look more like a bird than a 172-feet-wide bomber — if it's detected at all.

The B-2 was designed in the late Cold War to strike inside the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons without notice. By then, automated flight controls had made the unstable but high-lift flying wing design viable.

The B-2's design shunts most radar energy, and then the materials handle the rest. Paired with strict radio silence and the ability for low-altitude flight, the aircraft can be extremely tough for hostile surface-to-air missile batteries to detect.

But the B-2s also weren't operating alone.

Caine, a career Air Force F-16 pilot, shared Sunday that fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, now known to include the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and F-22 Raptor, were part of the mission, sweeping in front of the strike package of bombers for enemy fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles. The mission was also supported by intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft.

Caine said the US was unaware any shots had been fired at the aircraft during their mission.

Weakened enemy defenses

Tehran's air defenses include many older surface-to-air missile systems with limited fusion, meaning they aren't sufficiently integrated in a way that uses the full power of their air defense network to detect and engage threats.

The execution of the operation likely also turned on what came before: Israel destroyed much of Iran's remaining air defenses in the days leading up to the US strike, leading Israel to declare air superiority over parts of Iran. Many other surface-to-air missile systems were knocked out in previous engagements.

It's unclear what the specific air defense situation looked alike along the route the B-2s flew toward Fordow and Natanz.

The mountainous topography around facilities like Fordow and Natanz could also create potentially exploitable radar blind spots for Iran's operable sensors. The timing of the operation, the middle of the night, was also chosen to challenge the response of human operators.

Deception

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the B-2s flew to the "nuclear sites in and out and back without the world knowing at all," highlighting deception efforts and communications silence that kept the mission secret.

President Donald Trump had signaled that he would take two weeks to decide on whether the US would strike Iran, and then the hit came just days later. That, however, wasn't the only deception.

"As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy," Caine explained on Sunday, calling it "a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa." Additional decoy aircraft were used as the bombers entered Iranian airspace, he said.

Although Trump has called the strikes a smashing success, it remains unclear whether Iran could still build nuclear weapons in the near future. The status of Iran's critical technologies and the whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium are unknown, and most of its nuclear scientists are believed to have been evacuated well ahead of the strikes.

The American strikes on the nuclear facilities came after Israel launched a new operation aimed at degrading Iran's nuclear program earlier this month.

While the Trump administration had preferred pursuing a diplomatic approach, trying to reach a new nuclear deal with Iran, Israel opted for violence, conducting far-reaching military action against Tehran's nuclear facilities, top scientists, senior commanders, and air defenses. The US then joined those efforts with a tremendous display of force.

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What's it like to fly a B-2 bomber for 2 days straight? Here's what record-holding pilots say.

• Stealth bombers flew roughly 37 hours to bomb Iran's nuclear sites this weekend.

• The longest B-2 flight was a 44-hour bombing mission to Afghanistan in October 2001.

• The Iran mission required a large portion of the US B-2 fleet to work at once.

Seven American stealth bombers flew roughly 37 hours to bomb Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend. The Pentagon called the Operation Midnight Hammer bombing run the longest B-2 Spirit flight in decades.

The record for the longest B-2 bomber flight belongs to Melvin Deaile and Brian "Jethro" Neal, two retired Air Force pilots who in October 2001 flew a 44-hour flight, executing one of the first bombing missions into Afghanistan in the wake of the tragic 9/11 terror attacks.

They shared what it's like to carry out these exceedingly long bombing missions and navigate the stressful aerial refuelings needed to keep the B-2 flying on only a few hours of sleep and some beef jerky.

The longest B-2 bomber flight

The September 11, 2001, attacks unfolded as the duo was in the middle of an annual nuclear capabilities training exercise, Neal told Business Insider.

Amid confusing reports of hijacked planes, Neal first thought they were part of the training. But soon it was clear, and his unit was preparing mission options for top Bush administration officials in Washington eager to respond with force.

Neal and Deaile were among a handful of B-2 crews that headed to Afghanistan that week, Deaile said.

The pair knew the B-2 Spirit well enough; however, they flew the plane only a couple of times a month to help preserve the expensive aircraft and mitigate maintenance issues. They spent most of their time training on the T-38 training aircraft, a less costly option to keep flight skills sharp.

While they occasionally flew their B-2 bomber cross-country to practice long-haul flights, they'd never flown it for a wartime operation until one evening in early October, when the pair took off in the wee hours of the morning from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where all B-2s are housed, heading west to Afghanistan.

Before they took off for the mission, the airmen responsible for furnishing the pilots with mission-appropriate gear had thoughtfully purchased a cot for the back of the bomber, one just long enough to lie down on, Neal said, recalling the ad hoc sleeping arrangements in the $2 billion stealth aircraft with a chuckle.

"When the ladder comes up and you enter the cockpit, there is a flat spot on the floor that is about a little over 6 feet long," Neal said of the sleeping area. "And so I think over the two days that I was in that little space, I spent about five hours in that cot total."

Five hours isn't much sleep for a 44-hour flight. Pilots are often provided a stimulant by flight surgeons to help stay awake, Neal said. He declined to take his stimulant, known colloquially as a "go pill," but Deaile did.

"You're young, and you're doing something that you're trained to do, and there's a bit of excitement and a lot of adrenaline," Neal remembered. The two took turns trying to get some naps, though pre-mission nerves kept either from getting much rest. Also, flying west toward Afghanistan meant the sun was up all day. "You don't feel like sleeping when the sun's staring you in the eyes," Neal said.

Flying a B-2 bomber

Compared with aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-22 Raptor fighter jets, both of which Neal flew throughout his career, flying a bomber like the B-2 is like driving a semitruck after spending years in a sports car, he explained. Deaile already had bomber experience, working with B-52 strategic bombers before joining the B-2 community, but the Spirit is a very different plane.

A B-2 humming along in the air requires only one pilot to stay alert, meaning the second can rest. But landing, taking off, dropping bombs, and refueling require both crew members.

Refueling a B-2, a requirement for these long flights, especially with a heavy payload, is no easy task.

Tanker crews must be specifically certified to fuel different aircraft, including the B-2, to account for each platform's unique characteristics. The nerve-racking ordeal usually lasts about 30 minutes each time, and it's as tough on the bomber pilots as it is on those in the tanker.

The Northrop Grumman-built B-2 is unique not just for its unusual flying-wing design but also because it's stealthy, with the sleek design and coatings to evade radar. The aircraft's surface is an important contributor to its low observability. Even small scratches to the surface, such as one caused by an errant refueling boom, can affect its stealth, Deaile said.

"It's very intensive," he said of the refueling process, adding that he and Neal received seven different refuels from tankers during the lengthy two-day mission. Neal estimated they needed a total of 750,000 pounds of JP-8 fuel. The goal was to take on as much fuel as possible since so much flight time was spent over the ocean.

"You're at the gas station going hundreds of miles an hour," Neal said, describing navigating the refueling as a tense workout, especially since the B-2's design generates lift that oddly pushes the tanker away during refueling.

Setting a record

Refueling and a last-minute order from headquarters are how Neal and Deaile ended up with the record for the longest B-2 flight.

Deaile and Neal dropped a dozen bombs from their B-2 before departing Afghan airspace. But just as the pilots were catching their breath, word unexpectedly arrived ordering them back to Afghanistan to deploy their four remaining bombs, the last remaining out of their 16 total Joint Direct Attack Munition stock, each bomb weighing 2,000 pounds. JDAMs, as they are known, are unguided bombs that have been fitted with a GPS-guidance kit.

To return, though, they needed even more fuel. A tanker was dispatched to their bomber, named the Spirit of America, only for Neal and Deaile to learn that the tanker crew had never refueled a B-2 before. They were forced to wait until a B-2-certified tanker crew nearby could be found and routed their way.

By this point in the mission, neither pilot was consuming much food, instead preferring to focus on water intake since they weren't burning many calories. A cooler in the back was packed with snacks, Neal said, probably beef jerky and grapes, maybe a sandwich.

After dropping their final bombs, the pilots turned south for Diego Garcia, home to a small air base in the Indian Ocean. Knowing they'd finish on the island, Neal had packed a piece of gear not commonly seen in a B-2 bomber — his fishing rod.

Another crew took over the Spirit of America on Diego Garcia, and Neal and Deaile hopped on a military transport aircraft back to Missouri.

"That was a little bit more comfortable than the way we got there," Deaile said.

In an email to BI, Air Force public affairs officials declined to say whether the same Spirit of America aircraft participated in the Iran mission, citing operational security concerns.

Looking at the recent B-2 bomber mission into Iran, Deaile shared that he was most impressed by the maintenance and management of the fleet. The entire B-2 fleet is less than two dozen aircraft, meaning that the Iran mission, including aircraft used as decoys, required much of the US fleet to fly for days without any apparent breakdowns.

"The Air Force put up a third of its bomber fleet in one night to do this mission with precision," Deaile said. "That's incredible."

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Not just stealth bombers: Trump says F-35 and F-22 stealth fighters were part of the Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran

• US military F-35s and F-22s participated in the strikes against Iran, Trump said Wednesday.

• The surprise disclosure sheds new light on Operation Midnight Hammer.

• The F-35 in particular has faced criticism from Trump allies in recent months.

In addition to the just over half a dozen B-2 Spirit bombers that struck Iran's nuclear sites, US military F-35 and F-22 stealth fighter jets were also part of the operation this past weekend against Iran, President Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday.

Pentagon leadership said Sunday that a mixture of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft participated in Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw the US attack three of Iran's top nuclear sites. The officials did not specify which fighter jets were used, only noting that they pushed out in front of the bombers, sweeping for enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile batteries.

Trump's disclosure offers new details about the strike mission officials described as highly secretive and complex.

"It was dead dark," the president told reporters at the NATO summit in the Netherlands. "There was no moon, there was no light; it was virtually moonless. It was very dark, and the shots were hit perfectly."

"The pilots flew about 36 hours — two ways, far distance — in those incredible B-2s," Trump said of the stealth bombers.

"We then had the F-22s and we had the F-35s, and we had other planes. And we had, I think, a total of 52 tankers. That means the big tankers, because the refueling was a lot for all of the different planes that we sent. Incredible operation," he said.

In recent months, Trump allies, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and far-right activist Laura Loomer, have sharply criticized the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and its stealth capabilities, as well as its manufacturer, US defense giant Lockheed Martin. Some complaints have framed the fighter jet as obsolete in the era of drones, while others have focused on concerns about the expensive weapons program.

The $2 trillion F-35 program has been plagued by costly development, maintenance and sustainment, and readiness issues; however, the combat-proven fighter jet is widely considered a cornerstone of US airpower and is operated by American allies and partners around the world.

Western military officials have specifically praised Israel's F-35I, a specially modified version of the Lockheed Martin aircraft. Israel has deployed its unique version of the fifth-generation fighter for multiple operations against Iran. And now it's known that US Air Force F-35s flew similar missions alongside the air-superiority F-22 Raptor.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that more than 125 aircraft participated in the operation against Iranian nuclear sites during the previous night, including seven B-2s and unidentified fighter jets, refueling tankers, and surveillance planes.

US forces fired around 75 precision-guided munitions during the operation, with powerful weapons striking the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, including 14 heavy bunker-buster bombs dropped by the B-2s and over 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by a US Navy submarine at an undisclosed location in the Middle East.

Satellite imagery revealed extensive damage from the Tomahawks at Isfahan and several notable craters caused by the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-buster bombs at Fordow and Natanz. Caine said the initial battle damage assessments suggest all three sites "sustained extremely severe damage and destruction."

White House and Israeli officials have repeatedly said in recent days that the airstrikes delivered a significant blow to Iran's nuclear program, with some assessments suggesting that Tehran's ability to develop a bomb was set back years.

Some nuclear experts have countered, though, that the attacks likely only delayed Iran's ability to build a weapon and may have also invigorated their desire to do so. An early US intelligence assessment found that the strikes may have only set the program back by a matter of months, contradicting the Trump administration and Israel's Atomic Energy Commission.

The full extent of the damage at the heavily protected, deeply buried facilities is difficult to assess. Trump has suggested human intel sources on the ground confirmed the damage.

A separate issue beyond damage, as officials and analysts have said, is that the Iranian stockpiles of near-weapons-grade uranium — nuclear material that, with further enrichment, could be used to make a bomb — remain unaccounted for.