Babak Taghvaee reports on January’s B-2A Spirit attack on targets of the so-called Islamic State in Libya.
B-2S STRIKE LIBYA TERROR CAMPS
SIX YEARS after its last appearance in combat, the US Air Force‘s 509th Bomb Wing, based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, used its B-2As on January 18 in a strike against an Islamic State (IS) position in remote desert 28 miles (45km) southwest of Sirte, Libya.
The attack killed almost 80 terrorists, the highest number of fatalities yet recorded for a single air strike against IS.
Eight KC-135R/Ts, seven KC-10As, two U-28As and several MQ-1B and MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) supported the bombers. Four of the KC-135s and three KC-10s enabled the Spirits’ transatlantic flight while the remaining tankers topped up the bombers in theatre.
Between August 1 and December 6 2016, more than 4,000 sailors and marines from the USS Wasp‘s Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) operated in the US Sixth Fleet area of operation (AOO), conducting maritime and theatre security co-operation while supporting Operation Odyssey Lightning (OOL) in Sirte, Libya.
In partnership with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), the operation succe…
