The Air Force said it cost $2.1 million to send two nuclear-capable B-2 bombers on a training exercise over South Korea that was widely viewed as a show of force in response to weeks of threats from North Korea.The service's Global Strike Command said Friday in a statement that the total flight time for the B-2s was 75 hours. The aircraft made the more than 6,500-mile round trip from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to a South Korean island range on Thursday.

In a historic coincidence, this third week of March marks not just one anniversary, but the anniversary of three separate combat engagements by the B-2 Spirit Bomber.

The first occurred 14 years ago, when B-2 bombers flying from Whiteman AFB were the first manned aircraft to engage in hostilities during Operation Allied Force on March 24, 1999. Operation Allied Force was a NATO military operation launched to force Yugoslavia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, to end a campaign of violence by Serbian forces against the people of Kosovo. 

Ten years ago, B-2 s operating from Whiteman Air Force Base and other forward locations participated in the opening salvos of Operation Iraqi Freedom, dropping dozens of bombs on high-value targets in Baghdad on March 20, 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom marked the highest-intensity bombardment ever conducted by B-2s, with the aircraft dropping over a million pounds of ordnance during the opening days of the war.

Finally, and most recently, three B-2s took off from Whiteman AFB on March 22, 2011 and flew more than 6,000 miles to Libya, where they took part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, a NATO operation to enforce a UN no-fly zone to prevent Muammar Gaddafi from using his air forces to attack civilians. The aircraft destroyed a series of hardened aircraft shelters at an airfield near Sirte, and resulted in the nearly complete destruction of Gaddafi's air forces.

All three anniversaries highlight the enduring contributions of the B-2 Spirit to our nation's defense, according to Brig. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the 509th Bomb Wing.

"This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the arrival of the B-2 at Whiteman Air Force Base, and this week we commemorate three of the B-2's four combat employments," Bussiere said. "In Serbia, Libya and Iraq, we saw professional Airmen flying from bases around the world to successfully destroy targets with pinpoint precision. The B-2's ability to enter the most restricted airspace in the world, attack critical targets, and then fly home, is unmatched in any other air force in the world. Our people deserve to be proud of the outstanding missions they contributed to in each of these conflicts."

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the delivery of the first B-2 Spirit, the Spirit of Missouri, to Whiteman Air Force Base on Dec. 17, 1993. Air Force Global Strike command has designated 2013 as the "Year of the B-2," and throughout the year the wing will be marking a variety of important dates in the B-2 program. 

“It was the first night of 'Shock and Awe’ in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Three bombers flew from Whiteman Air Force base and another three flew from Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory.
We were carrying 2,000 lb precision-guided weapons and the 5,000 lb bombs known as “bunker busters”, and our targets were the regime’s command and control centres, airfields and palaces.
Our mission was to go after Saddam’s critical infrastructure, to degrade his ability to respond.
It was a 38-hour-long flight from Missouri and back again, with five mid-air refuels. As we were flying over Iraq towards Baghdad, we could see the precision strikes by the Navy’s Tomahawk missiles, but otherwise the night sky was very quiet and I could see the outlines of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers where they converged.
As we closed in on Baghdad, the anti-aircraft fire opened up. It was snaking up, like a Slinky, in the tracer fire. Then, after we released our first bombs, the Iraqi surface-to–air missiles opened up.
Their missiles weren’t targeted and they weren’t tracking us, but our biggest fear was still that they would get off a lucky shot. We felt pretty comfortable, however, and there were no near misses.
The night sky was lighting up but we weren’t seeing the sort of images that people elsewhere saw, watching on television, as we were very focused on what was happening in the cockpit, and on getting our job done.
We were up against a lot of unknowns and we sent out our most experienced pilots that night. There was a real sense of responsibility and history as we knew that we were laying the groundwork for the Army and Marines to do their job.
I flew two missions from Missouri and in total 600 targets were struck by B-2s. I’m very proud of what we contributed.” (The Telegraph)

Six hero pilots return home safe and sound from a bombing mission to Libya which saw them in the cockpit for an incredible 25 hours.
Three B-2 Spirit bombers, piloted by two men each, made it back after the 11,418-mile round trip from the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - where they are kept in special hangars - to Libya, where they hit targets on forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and back again.
At $2.1bn, they are the most expensive warplanes in the world and rarely leave their climate-controlled hangars. But when it does, the B-2 bomber makes a spectacularly effective start to a war - including during this weekend's aerial attack on Libya's air defences.
Its mission is to penetrate heavily defended enemy territory and 'kick down the door' on the opening night of a conflict. One of its special features is its ability to carry eight GBU-37 'bunker buster' bombs, weighing in at 2.27 tonnes that are capable of boring 20 to 30 ft of rock or reinforced concrete before detonating.
After the first wave of more than 110 Tomahawk missiles launched from allied warships in the Mediterranean, they struck yesterday morning on 'a variety of strategic targets over Libya', according to the US Air Force.
They dropped a total of 45 one-tonne satellite guided missiles on Libyan aircraft shelters before making the 5,709 mile journey back to the Missouri. The B-2 stealth bombers were first used in the Kosovo and Serbian war and have been used more recently in Afghanistan.
The long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defence, and with one refuelling, is able to fly to any point in the world within hours.
The aircraft is famous for rather ominous-looking bat-like silhouette: The leading edges of the wings are angled at 33° and the trailing edge has a double-W shape. It is manufactured at two Northrop Grumman facilities in Pico Rivera and Palmdale in California.
The aircraft also are deadly and effective: An assessment published by the USAF showed that two B-2s armed with precision weaponry can do the job of 75 conventional aircraft.
That makes it a powerful weapon to strike targets including bunkers, command centres, radars, airfields, air defences.
The B-2 can carry 16 2,000 pound (900 kilogram), satellite-guided bombs, including an earth penetrating version.
As well as the eight 'bunker busters', its bomb bays can carry 16 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), which have been tested at ranges 180 miles from the target, or the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), a glide bomb that releases cluster bombs.
A major drawback, however, is the intensive maintenance required by the B-2s, whose heat and moisture sensitive skin must be painstakingly taped and cured after every mission.
In previous conflicts, the maintenance requirements kept the B-2s tethered to their home base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
In Afghanistan, that meant 44-hour bombing runs for their two-member crews, the longest air combat missions in history. It also meant few B-2 missions.
But the air force has built special climate-controlled shelters at bases on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and at Fairford, Gloucestershire, for B-2s, which were built by Northrop Grumman and first flew in 1989.
Staying awake for the 25-hour mission while being in control of bombs that weigh nearly a tonne is a difficult task and one that tests the mettle of the pilots that take part in such journeys.
It isn't clear how the six pilots on Operation Odyssey Dawn managed to stay awake, but in the past they have used a fold-out bed behind the seats at the controls. It is also possible that they used auto-pilot for the majority of the journey but used manual controls while bombing so that they could keep concentrating on the task at hand. (Daily Mail)

WHITEMAN AFB, Mo. - Fox, pilots and commanders based at Whiteman Air Force Base, deep in the heart of Missouri, talked about what it was like to lead the U.S. bombingcampaign...These B-2s have been flying nonstop, 36-hour missions from Whiteman to Iraq since the bombing began."What it means to them is, 'Look out. Here we come,'" said Col. Doug Raaberg, cmdr. of the 509th Bomb Wing. "Because what the B-2 will do is going to be very short notice."..."There's absolutely no doubt in my mind," Raaberg said, "that we'll do exactly what we're trained to do ... and that is kick the door down ... and then we're going to kill some targets."
Note:USAF B-2 spokesman confirmed to 4Law this report  in 19/1/06 - B-2 tried to kill  Saddam in this day.