U.S. airstrikes against Houthi weapons facilities in Yemen on Oct. 16, 2024, included a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. (Samantha White/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. forces struck underground weapons storage facilities in Yemen on Wednesday in what the Pentagon’s top official called a display of America’s ability to destroy enemy targets “anytime, anywhere.”
The precision airstrikes included using B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers to target five bunkers holding weapons components that Iranian-backed Houthi militants have used to attack ships in the region, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” Austin said.
President Joe Biden ordered the strikes to cripple the Houthis’ ability to attack ships and disrupt Red Sea commerce, he added.
The Defense Department didn’t identify the weapons components kept in the storage facilities or say how much damage the strikes had done.
Assessments were pending but no civilian casualties were indicated, U.S. Central Command said in a separate statement.
Use of the subsonic bomber, which can carry conventional and nuclear weapons, sent a message to Iran as tensions with Israel threaten to erupt into a full-scale war in the Middle East.
The B-2 Spirit is the only aircraft capable of striking Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Use of the bomber demonstrates “U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere,” said Austin, who did not mention Iran.
Wednesday’s action follows U.S. strikes earlier this month that targeted Houthi weapons systems, bases and other equipment in Yemen.
On Sept. 27, three Navy ships shot down a barrage of Houthi drones and missiles as they transited the Bab el Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. None of the U.S. ships were struck and there were no injuries, the Pentagon said.
Since November 2023, Houthi militants have waged war on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea region with surface and aerial drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, and sometimes manned vessels. They say their actions are in support of Palestinians and will continue until Israel ceases operations in Gaza.
There have been 103 reported Houthi-related attacks on ships in the region since Nov. 19, including a multiple missile launch earlier this month on a Liberia-flagged oil tanker with at least one striking the vessel, the Joint Maritime Information Center reported Saturday.
The report’s tally doesn’t include attacks engaged by U.S. or coalition forces protecting ships in the region, the JMIC said.
While most of the Houthi attacks were unsuccessful or caused minimal damage, the militants have sunk two commercial ships, commandeered another and severely damaged two vessels, including an oil tanker attacked in August that burned for weeks.
In all, four mariners have been killed and two others severely injured, according to the JMIC report.
“Although the concentration of attacks on civilian merchant ships have occurred in the southern Red Sea and western Gulf of Aden, the Houthis maintain the capability to target vessels well outside that area to include the Indian Ocean …,” the JMIC report stated.
It wasn’t clear how many B-2 Spirit bombers were involved in Wednesday’s strike, which also included unspecified Navy assets.
There are about 20 B-2s based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. In previous years, they’ve flown missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo, according to the Air Force. The B-2 is crewed by two pilots, flies as high as 50,000 feet and can carry a payload of 40,000 pounds.
