US Military Orders Deployment of B-2 Stealth Bombers

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 28, 2003

US Military Orders Deployment of B-2 Stealth Bombers

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The United States military has ordered the deployment of B-2 stealth bombers to overseas bases closer to Iraq and the deployment of a sixth aircraft carrier to the Gulf region, military officials said Thursday.

Lt. Matt Hasson, a spokesman at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, confirmed that the radar-evading, batwing B-2s had received a deployment order, but would not give any details.

Local media reports quoted Pentagon officials as saying the B-2 unit had been ordered to move to overseas bases closer to Iraq: a base in Britain and a base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

The B-2 bombers are among the most advanced warplanes of the US Air Force, each capable of carrying up to 202,000-pound (900 kg) satellite-guided bombs. The Pentagon already has deployed B-1 bombers and radar-evading F-117 stealth fighters in the Gulf region.

Meanwhile, the US Navy announced Thursday that it is sending the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, based in San Diego, to the Gulf region on Monday. Five US aircraft carriers, along with associated battle groups of missile-firing warships, are already in the Gulf and Mediterranean within striking distance of Iraq.

The Pentagon said Thursday that the number of American troops deployed to the Gulf region had reached 225,000, including about 14,000 in and around Afghanistan. Nearly half of the American troops are stationed in Kuwait.

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