CNN
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As President Donald Trump is considering military options for Iran’s potential airstrikes, flight tracking data reviewed by CNN shows that multiple US B-2 bombers appear to be heading west, taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Friday night.
The US Secretary of Defense said no orders have been given to advance in any type of surgeries against Iran using the B-2. As of Saturday, the plane was flying over the Pacific Ocean and appears to be heading towards Guam.
The two U.S. defense secretaries warned that the B-2 move does not mean that the operation is imminent, but that it is intended to provide the president with options. Another US official said the mobile aircraft could be a show of force and a deterrent, as Trump will deliberate.
The B-2 bomber is the only plane capable of carrying large ordinance intruders, and experts highlight it as the only type of bomb that could destroy Iran’s underground Foder nuclear facilities. Each B-2 bomber can carry two of these “bunkerbuster” bombs, each weighing an impressive 30,000 pounds.
The B-2 bomber movement comes as Trump spends most of the past week in the situation room, reviewing attack plans and quizzing staff about each potential outcome. The president has shown that his two-week timeline for decisions regarding US military involvement in Iran is “the biggest” time, and that he can make up for the heart sooner.
Trump is scheduled to hold a meeting with his national security team in his oval office on Saturday and Sunday evenings. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Eight US Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers took off from Altus, Oklahoma on Friday night, according to data from Flightradar24. In Kansas, tankers refueled two groups of planes. This was identified by the Calligns Mytee11 FLT and Mytee21 FLT in air traffic control voice. Callign Mytee has previously been associated with special activity flights with B-2 bombers, with multiple flight trackers on social media saying the plane being refueled is a B-2 bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Flight tracking data and air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN show that they have refueled again on the California coast and off the coast of Hawaii. Satellite images taken Thursday showed six KC-135 refuelers stationed in Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Annoa Abekah-Mensah contributed to this report.