[mr.miyagi]

[img]http://mohaa.cact-sd.org/aasigs/b2.jpg[/img]

American B-2 stealth bombers are to be stationed in Britain and on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

The move comes in preparation for a possible attack on Iraq.

The radar-evading aircraft will be deployed to the Royal Air Force base at Fairford, the British base on Diego Garcia and eventually the Pacific island of Guam.

The officer in charge of the fleet confirmed the move, saying it would strengthen the hand of US Central Command boss Gen.Tommy Franks.

"We will move this to a forward location so that we can cycle the aircraft as rapidly as necessary," said Col. Doug Raaberg, commander of the Whiteman Air Force, Missouri-based 509th Bomb Wing.

It was unclear how many of the US' 21 B-2s would be involved in the forward deployment. They cost $1.35bn each.<<Pocket money cool:

Five special climate-controlled shelters, each costing more than £1m, are to be installed at Fairford and Diego Garcia to house the bat-winged bombers

The B-2 is the most advanced US long-range strike aircraft, capable of dropping 16 satellite-guided 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs or up to eight 5,000-pound GBU-37 earth-penetrating "bunker buster" bombs.

It is capable of flying more than 6,000 miles without needing to refuel while carrying 40,000 pounds of bombs.

Under standard Air Force practice, the B-2 clears the way for other US warplanes, including Boeing B-52 and the B-1B bombers which lack the B-2's "stealth" technology.