America’s bomber campaign has entered a devastating new phase. After stealthy B-2 strikes and massive B-52 bombardments, the B-1 Lancer delivers overwhelming firepower against Iran’s missile sites and command centers. Flying marathon missions and unleashing enormous payloads, U.S. pilots executed a strike that could redefine modern air warfare. How did the B-1s dismantle Iran’s ability to fight back—and why might this only be the beginning of something far bigger than anyone expected until now unfolds?
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00:00The U.S. started surgically, deploying B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to take out key nodes in Iran.
00:06Then, it sent in the B-52s to devastate Iran with sledgehammer strikes.
00:12Next up are the B-1s.
00:14The U.S. B-1 pilots have pulled off an unbelievable strike on Iran
00:18that will most likely be studied in every military pilot school from now on.
00:22This is the final blow, and it has hit so hard that Iran's collapsing regime will never recover.
00:27However, the U.S. has just said,
00:29Forget stealth, we are in total destruction mode.
00:33According to Air and Space Forces magazine, the arrival of B-1 bombers in Iran
00:38signifies that the U.S. has no intention of ending its campaign of devastating strikes against the country and its
00:43despotic regime.
00:45That's been confirmed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane,
00:49who said on March 2nd that this work is just beginning and will continue,
00:53when speaking to reporters at the Pentagon.
00:55And continue it has, as the U.S. unleashed its B-1 bombers on Iran almost immediately
01:00after it sent B-2 bombers to strike at the heart of the country's command and control facilities.
01:05These B-1 bombers had to make long trips.
01:08Like the B-2s that came before, the B-1s had to fly for over 30 hours to get to
01:13Iran,
01:13amid the U.K. refusing to allow the U.S. to use the key bases of RAF Fairford and Diego
01:18Garcia,
01:19the latter of which is in the Indian Ocean,
01:21and would have given America's B-1 pilots a chance to land, refuel, and prepare for their strikes.
01:27This situation has since changed and we'll address it later in the video,
01:30but the initial wave of strikes, the B-1 pilots proved that they didn't need anybody's help to get the
01:35job done.
01:36Over 30 hours in the air was nothing for America's pilots
01:39as they followed on from the work done by their compatriots in the B-2s
01:42with a bombing run that has left Iran devastated.
01:45So the obvious question arises, what did the B-1 bombers actually do in Iran?
01:51They participated in a campaign that saw the U.S. hit over 1,250 targets
01:56during the first 48 hours of the conflict, according to Air and Space Forces magazine.
02:01And their role was simple, deliver a staggering £74,000 payload into the heart of Iran.
02:09According to the magazine, the U.S. sent three B-1s into Iran,
02:12which took part in a mission to strike Iran's missile sites,
02:15along with yet more of the Command and Control, or C-2, centres
02:19that Iran needs to keep operational if it's to coordinate anything even resembling a war against the U.S.
02:25Iran's ballistic missile infrastructure was the key in these B-1 strikes,
02:29and we'll explain why in just a few minutes.
02:31But first, we mentioned £74,000 payloads.
02:35Multiply that by three for the number of B-1s that the U.S. sent in Iran,
02:39and you get an insane maximum of 222,000 pounds of explosive fury
02:44delivered to Iran in a single mission.
02:47And fury is the right word.
02:49Both for the U.S. operation, which has been named Operation Epic Fury,
02:52and for what the B-1 bomber can pack into its base.
02:55We don't know precisely which weapons the U.S. B-1s used in Iran,
02:59but the pilots of these bombers would have been spoilt for choice,
03:02as almost everything that it can deliver has the ability to utterly ruin a target.
03:06On the standard bomb front, a B-1 can be loaded with up to 84 Mk-82 dumb bombs,
03:12each of which weighs £500.
03:14The aircraft can also carry 24 Mk-84 general-purpose bombs, each weighing £2,000.
03:20Mk-62s, which weigh £500 each,
03:23and Mk-65 quick-strike naval mines can also be loaded into the bomber,
03:27though it seems unlikely that the latter would have been used in the B-1 sorties in Iraq.
03:32As for the other bombs, all three are possibilities,
03:35though they would require the B-1s to fly almost directly over the target,
03:38potentially placing the bombers in range of Iran's air defences.
03:41As shattered as these defences were by the earlier B-2 bombing raids
03:45and the sledgehammer strikes delivered by America's B-52s,
03:48the possibility of a B-1 takedown by Iran was likely enough to keep the American bombers
03:53from flying directly over their targets.
03:55But the US didn't need direct flight.
03:58The odds are that it used the B-1s to deliver firepower from a distance
04:01to destroy Iran's missile facilities and C-2 centres.
04:04As the US Air Force points out,
04:06the B-1 can be loaded with 24 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAMs.
04:14Alternatively, it can carry up to 15,500-pound GBU-38 JDAMs,
04:18or up to 24 AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface standoff missiles.
04:24And it's the use of the word standoff in that last missile's name
04:27that gives you a clue as to how the US used its B-1s.
04:30Rather than sending its trio of bombers directly over the targets that the US wanted to strike,
04:35the US sent them to Iran so they could fire off their massive payloads at a safe distance.
04:40Thousands upon thousands of pounds of guided bombs and missiles
04:43battered Iran's C-2 centres and missile facilities,
04:46leaving them as little more than smoking craters in the ground
04:49after they'd been hit by an enemy that they couldn't even see.
04:52National Security Journal provides a few more details about the operation itself.
04:57It says that the trio of B-1 bombers flew round-trip sorties from the continental US.
05:01They were supported by American refueling tankers flying over the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean,
05:07allowing them to stay in the air without landing at any bases to refuel.
05:10The B-1s then came in like flying ninjas and did what they were tasked to do.
05:14They entered Iran's airspace, unleashed their bombs and missiles,
05:18then flew back home,
05:19likely using the same aerial refueling tankers to get back to the US in the process.
05:24These sorties were made possible by the earlier B-2 bombing runs,
05:27as the journal makes clear when discussing the key differences between the B-2 and B-1.
05:32If the B-2 can approach closer to heavily defended or hardened targets,
05:36the B-1B must either operate after air defences have been degraded
05:39or remain outside the most densely defended areas altogether, the outlet reports.
05:44This is why standoff munitions are the most likely choice for the B-1.
05:47The aerial battle has been shaped.
05:50The US took full advantage of that back with its B-1 bombers.
05:53The bombers functioned as what National Security Journal calls a
05:56high-capacity launch platform.
05:59After the B-2s had done their work with penetrating strikes,
06:02the B-1s followed up with precision strikes,
06:04launched from a distance that were made possible
06:06because Iran's air defences were so ruined that stealth was no longer a must.
06:10The US still has to be careful, of course,
06:13which is why it's not using its bombers in more traditional bombing runs.
06:16But the battlefield has been shaped by the US with an ingenious strategy
06:20that has allowed it to use a layered bomber approach
06:22to overcome Iran's layered air defences.
06:24The Iranian onion has been peeled.
06:28All that's left are the tears of the crumbled regime.
06:31Let's come back to the targets that the US struck with its B-1s.
06:34Iran International confirms that overnight strikes
06:37conducted by the US bombers on March 2nd
06:39took out above-ground ballistic missile sites,
06:42along with the C-2 senders we mentioned.
06:44Stick with us, and we'll explain why all of this matters
06:46for the future of the war in a moment.
06:49TBN Israel explains a little more,
06:51noting that in the aftermath of the B-1s striking,
06:53damage was done at some of Iran's key facilities.
06:56Strong explosion sounds were heard in the area of the nuclear facility
06:59and the air force base in central Isfahan in Iran, the outlet reports.
07:03The same outlet also supports the reports
07:05that the US has been hitting Iran's ballistic missile sites
07:08and C-2 centers with its B-1 bombers,
07:11all of which feed into the American strategy.
07:13What the US, along with Israel, has unleashed on Iran
07:16is already bad enough from the perspective of Iran's regime.
07:19However, things are going to get a whole lot worse for Iran.
07:22But before we get to that, you are watching the military show.
07:25If you haven't subscribed yet,
07:26now is the perfect time to hit the button
07:28so you always stay ahead of the curve.
07:30Now, you've seen how the US used its B-1 bombers to devastate Iran.
07:34There are several reasons why this strategy matters
07:37in terms of what's coming next.
07:39Starting with the destroyed C-2 centers,
07:41losing these is a massive blow for Iran.
07:44A C-2 center is any central location
07:46where commanders can gather to direct operations.
07:49It's from these centers that orders are given to troops on the ground,
07:52as well as to naval, aerial and missile assets.
07:55Think of them as the brains of an entire wartime operation.
07:58Without C-2, the brain is cut off from the rest of the body.
08:01If your brain dropped out of your head right now,
08:03your body wouldn't be able to do anything.
08:05You'd be dead.
08:05That's what the US has done to Iran with its focus on C-2 centers.
08:09Orders aren't even being formulated, never mind being sent out,
08:12because Iran has lost its C-2.
08:14This also impacts Iran's ability to monitor the battlefield.
08:17For instance, it's difficult to launch drone and missile strikes
08:20against US naval assets
08:21when the infrastructure in place to observe those assets has disappeared.
08:25What we've seen here, and the B-1s have played a crucial role,
08:28is everything that sits behind the scenes of Iran's military posture
08:31being dismantled by the US in a matter of days.
08:34And we're already seeing the results.
08:36Beyond the loss of its C-2 centers,
08:38Iran is also struggling to deal with the fact
08:40that America's B-1 bombers have destroyed
08:41many of its ballistic missile launch sites.
08:44Combine the two,
08:45and you get fewer missile launches by Iran.
08:47According to a March 4th BBC report,
08:49Iran has managed to launch 571 missiles
08:52and 1,391 drones since the beginning of the war.
08:55That presents a problem in its own right
08:57on the missile stockpile front,
08:59as we'll cover in a moment.
09:00However, Cain said on March 4th
09:02that Iran's ballistic missile launches
09:04were already down 86%
09:06when compared to the first day of the conflict,
09:08and they had fallen 23% between March 3rd and 4th alone.
09:12Add a 73% decline in drone launches into the mix,
09:15and you start to see the effects of the B-1 strategy.
09:19Take out C-2 and the missile launches can't be coordinated.
09:23Destroy the missile bases and launches,
09:24and missile strikes won't happen,
09:26even if Iran can get its C-2s up and running again.
09:29The Jewish Institute for National Security of America,
09:32or JINSA,
09:33throws another wrench into the works for Iran.
09:35On March 5th, it compared what we're seeing from Iran right now
09:38to what it did during the 12-day war with Israel back in 2025.
09:41With US and Israeli forces rapidly destroying
09:44roughly 75% of Iran's launch capacity,
09:47the regime can no longer conduct
09:48sustained, large-volume barrages.
09:51Iran can still mount limited attacks,
09:53but each attack burns through its remaining launcher force,
09:55and forces even smaller follow-on attacks,
09:58JINSA claims.
09:59It backs this claim up with figures suggesting
10:01that Iran has lost up to 73% of its medium-range ballistic missiles,
10:05up to 52% of its short-range ballistic missiles,
10:08and the 75% of lost launchers already mentioned.
10:11Iran has been hit with a 1-2 combo.
10:14The scale of the US and Israeli attack is such
10:16that Iran has burned through huge amounts of its missiles
10:19for no real results.
10:21And as more launchers get turned into dust,
10:23first by the B-1s and then by what's coming after,
10:26Iran will be restricted to very limited launches,
10:28even if it is able to rebuild its stockpiles.
10:30This is brilliant by the US,
10:32and it's not the only problem that Iran has to deal with
10:34as the war moves beyond its initial phase.
10:37More B-1s are going to be coming,
10:39as you'll soon find out,
10:40and when they do,
10:41they, along with America's other bombers and fighter jets,
10:43will be able to operate with even more impunity over Iran
10:46than we've already seen.
10:47National Security Journal says
10:49that the US has achieved air superiority over Iran,
10:52but according to The Hill,
10:53that superiority has transformed into supremacy.
10:56The outlet quotes David Petraeus,
10:58who is the former director of the CIA
11:00and has also served as a commander
11:01of US Central Command in the past.
11:04Well, what it looks like
11:05is that we now have the ability
11:06to fly not just stealth fighter bombers,
11:08F-35 and B-2 stealth bombers,
11:09but also the real workhorses
11:11that can carry enormous payloads,
11:13the B-52s and the B-1s,
11:14Petraeus told the outlet before adding.
11:16We're not concerned really at this point in time
11:18about the air and ballistic defense of Iran,
11:20as long as you stay above heavy machine gun range,
11:23and that means you can really just pour it on.
11:25Above heavy machine gun range.
11:27If that's the case,
11:28then it means that whatever missile-based air defenses
11:30that Iran had been rendered obsolete.
11:32Air supremacy has been achieved,
11:34practically anything that can fly above a few thousand feet,
11:37which covers every bomber and fighter jet
11:39that the US might want to bring to bear against Iran.
11:41The missile math is in America's favor,
11:44as Iran has been degraded to the point
11:45where it can only carry out isolated strikes,
11:48and it can't defend itself
11:49against the retaliation that those strikes prompt.
11:52US B-1 bombers played a huge role
11:54in creating this situation.
11:56And as we mentioned earlier,
11:57we likely haven't seen the last of these bombers
11:59in the Iranian theater.
12:01You may remember that we told you
12:02that America's first trio of B-1 bombers
12:04had to fly massive round trips without landing
12:07because the UK didn't grant access to key military bases.
12:10That has changed.
12:11On March 1st,
12:12Zakir Starmer flip-flopped
12:14and decided that actually, yes,
12:16the UK will provide access.
12:18The decision seems to have come in the wake of Iran
12:20hitting a UK base in Cyprus
12:21with one of its attack drones,
12:23which has brought the UK
12:24into a supporting role for the fight.
12:26The US hasn't exactly been magnanimous
12:28about this turnaround,
12:29likely feeling that the UK has stung it from the off
12:31by not allowing it to access the bases in the first place.
12:34From the US perspective,
12:35this lack of access created a lot more risk
12:38for its B-1 bombers.
12:39US President Donald Trump
12:41has already delivered some scathing criticism to Starmer,
12:44claiming that he's now looking to
12:45join wars after we've already won.
12:48There are also suggestions
12:49that the UK may send some of its aircraft carriers
12:51into the Persian Gulf region,
12:53which led to another rebuke from Trump.
12:55The US President took to Truth Social to say,
12:58The United Kingdom,
12:59our once great ally,
13:00maybe the greatest of them all,
13:01is finally giving serious thought
13:03to sending two aircraft carriers
13:04into the Middle East.
13:05That's okay, Prime Minister Starmer,
13:07we don't need them any longer,
13:08but we will remember.
13:10However, what seems to be a divide
13:11forming between the US and the UK
13:13may instead be performative on Trump's part.
13:16How do we know?
13:16Well, on March 7th,
13:18The Guardian reported
13:18that four B-1 bombers
13:20had landed at RAF Fairford,
13:21which you may remember
13:22as one of the two key bases
13:23that the UK barred the US from using
13:25during its initial B-1 strikes.
13:27These bombers are likely stopping off for fuel
13:29before they make their way to Diego Garcia,
13:32from which they will launch yet more strikes.
13:34Once those strikes are over,
13:35the B-1s will be able to return to UK bases,
13:38refuel and restock,
13:39and then go again.
13:40And what we saw on March 2nd was a taster.
13:43What's coming is going to be much worse for Iran,
13:46as the US, with the UK's help,
13:47is soon going to be in a position
13:49where it can send B-1s into Iran
13:51over and over again
13:52in very short time periods.
13:54Bear in mind that this is an Iran
13:55that is already being peppered with attacks.
13:58By March 6th,
13:59Breaking Defense was reporting
14:00that the US was claiming
14:01to have struck 3,000 targets,
14:04including 43 of Iran's warships.
14:06Piece by piece,
14:07the US is stripping away everything
14:09that might have made Iran a military threat.
14:11The arrival of B-1 bombers at UK air bases
14:14only adds to the more consistent firepower
14:16that the US wants to bring to Iran.
14:18What's left of Iran's regime
14:20will be looking for an off-ramp.
14:21It seems like the US isn't going to provide one.
14:25According to CNN,
14:26Trump has already said
14:27that no deal will be done with Iran
14:29until the country's regime
14:30offers an unconditional surrender to the US.
14:33That hasn't come yet.
14:34Though Trump has suggested
14:35that Iran has surrendered
14:36to its Middle East neighbors,
14:38that doesn't seem to be the case.
14:39Now, Trump is claiming
14:40that the US is getting ready
14:42to hit very hard against Iran
14:44with strikes that will include
14:45areas and groups of people
14:47that haven't already been targeted.
14:48It's likely no coincidence
14:50that the US has sent its B-1s
14:52to RAF Fairford
14:53as Trump is making these threats.
14:56The US wants its bombers ready to go again
14:58as soon as the order is given
14:59and Iran will be in for a world of extra pain
15:01beyond what it's already experienced
15:03when the B-1s are unleashed
15:04for a second round.
15:06With no off-ramps being made available
15:08that could preserve its regime,
15:09Iran is trying to widen the war
15:11and in doing so,
15:12it's shooting itself in the foot
15:13that is connected
15:14to an already battered body.
15:16We mentioned earlier
15:17that Iran has rattled off
15:18about 500 missiles
15:20and over 1,000 drones.
15:21Most of these have targeted
15:22its Middle Eastern neighbors
15:23rather than the US ships
15:25surrounding the country.
15:26Every one of these strikes
15:28is a reminder
15:28that Iran wants to be
15:29the bully of the Middle East
15:30even as its military power
15:32is destroyed from underneath it.
15:34As Al Jazeera said
15:35in a March 7th article,
15:37all that Iran is really doing
15:38with these attacks
15:39is destroying whatever tiny amounts
15:40of goodwill
15:41it has left with its neighbors,
15:42upon which it would need
15:43to rely heavily
15:44to mediate an end to hostilities
15:46should the US make that option available.
15:48The Gulf states didn't
15:49and don't want to get involved
15:51in this war
15:51but when Iran is firing missiles
15:53and drones at them,
15:54it's Iran that will bear
15:55the brunt of their response
15:56even if it was the US and Israel
15:58that started the war.
15:59And all of the while,
16:00America's B1s are lurking.
16:02Now able to use UK bases,
16:04those B1s are prepping
16:05a new round of strikes
16:07that could be even more destructive
16:08than the last.
16:09Iran won't be able to do
16:10a thing about it.
16:11The final blow may be coming
16:12and it'll deliver
16:13a very different Gulf region
16:15in the future.
16:16Right now,
16:16this is looking like a conflict
16:18that could trigger World War 3
16:19but that is very much dependent
16:21on whether or not Iran
16:22can find any allies
16:23willing to fight by its side
16:25beyond the weakened proxies
16:26it already has.
16:27There are other conflicts
16:28that could serve as the flashpoints
16:29for World War 3
16:30and we cover five of them
16:31in our video.
16:32Check out that video
16:33to learn more
16:34and remember to subscribe
16:35to The Military Show
16:36for more examinations
16:37of the strategies
16:38that the US is using
16:39to cripple Iran.
16:41And thank you as always
16:42for watching.
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