In the midst of the US military’s escalation of the “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Monday (March 2nd) that the previous night, powerful B-1 bombers were sent deep into Iranian territory to strike Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
The US-launched “Epic Fury” large-scale strike operation entered its third day on Monday. The US Central Command responsible for carrying out this operation posted on social media platform X on Monday, “Last night, US B-1 bombers launched strikes deep into Iranian territory, weakening Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. As the president said, ‘We will destroy their missiles and level their missile industry.'”
The Central Command also released a video of the departure of the B-1 bombers in the post.
On Sunday (March 1st), the Central Command released a list of weapons and equipment used by the US military within 24 hours of the start of the war, including B-2 stealth bombers, F-18 and F-35 stealth fighters, but the B-1 bombers were not on the list.
However, in the list of weapons used within 48 hours after the start of the war released by the Central Command on Monday, the first one mentioned was the B-1 bomber.
For years, the B-1 has been carrying out operational missions for the Central Command, bombing fixed targets, clearing chemical weapon bases, flying for hours over allied ground troops to provide support, and dropping precision bombs on ISIS militants.
Without refueling, the combat radius of the B-1 bomber is 3,000 miles. It is capable of in-flight refueling, has an effective payload capacity of 125,000 pounds, allowing it to deliver nuclear payloads anywhere on Earth.
The B-1 has the largest effective payload among all US bombers. Each B-1 can carry 42,000 pounds of precise, individually targeted ammunition.
Rebecca Grant, founder of the IRIS Independent Research Institute and national security analyst, wrote an article on Fox News saying that the B-1 is the most stylish bomber ever. Unlike the B-2 “Spirit” strategic bomber or the new B-21 “Raider” with stealth designs, the speed of the B-1 is astonishing. Powered by four General Electric F101 dual-rotor afterburning turbofan engines, the B-1 can reach a top speed of 1.2 Mach, or about 900 miles per hour.
In February 2024, B-1 bombers departed from Texas, USA, flying to the Middle East. There, along with the Central Command’s fighter jets, they destroyed dozens of Iran-backed militia positions in Syria and Iraq.