B 2 bombers flew 18 hours from Missouri at a mere 600 mph to attack Iran s nuclear site as experts say strike far from successful

 Seven B 2 bombers flew  from Missouri to bomb Iran s nuclear sites, it has emerged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_B-2_Spirit

The fact that the slow and big B"  planes were not detected and shot down by hypersonic missiles long before they reached their targets in Iran shows Iran needs to reinforce its radar ops and drone patrols to look out for  B 2s and other stealth bombers.

However, it may be that Iran had moved vital nuclear assets out of the target areas and so was less concerned about the bombers reaching their target.

A US submarine fired cruise missiles as part of the strike.

It is also not clear how much damage the bombs actually did.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o

Experts analyzing commercial say the bunker buster bombs failed to hit "important things."

At the end of the day there are some really important things that haven't been hit," says Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who tracks Iran's nuclear facilities. "If this ends here, it's a really incomplete strike."

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/22/nx-s1-5441734/satellites-show-damage-iran-nuclear-program-not-destroyed-experts-say

The 40 year old  B2 planes flew 18 hours at a max speed of 1000 km or 600 mph and needed to refuel several times mid air in an op full of risks and likely costing 100s of millions of dollars to attack what appears to be an empty civilian nuclear site.

Their slow speed made the B 2 s and their escort and support aircraft vulnerable to hypersonic missiles.

From media

• Midnight friday into Saturday, a large B-2 strike package of bombers launched from continental U.S. (Whiteman Air Force Base)
• Part of package went to the Pacific as part of a tactical surprise, a deception effort only know to a few people
• The main strike package of seven B-2 bombers with two crew members went east with minimal communication
• It was an 18-hour flight with multiple in-flight refueling (an effort likely coordinate by TRANSCOM at Scott Air Force Base in southern Illinois)
• Once over land, the B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications.
• When main package entered Iranian air space, deception tactics and decoy aircraft pushed out at high altitude and speed ahead of the bombers, sweeping for enemy fighters

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2025/06/22/whiteman-afb-b-2-bombers