These ‘big, ugly’ nuclear bombers carry 31 tons of explosives – and are off to Iran ...Middle East

Nuclear-capable American bombers have landed in Britain after Sir Keir Starmer gave Donald Trump permission to use UK bases as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

Three heavy Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, joining other US military planes including B-1 Lancers that landed over the weekend.

This is the first time B-52s have been seen in the UK since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on 28 February.

The Prime Minister has said Washington can use British bases including RAF Fairford in south-west England and at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for defensive strikes against Iran. Starmer initially refused to permit their use by Washington in the initial US-Israeli offensive strikes.

America’s B-52s conducted strikes on Iranian ballistic missile facilities and command-and-control posts during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, according to Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of United States Central Command. He added that Boeing B-1 and Northrop Grumman B-2 bombers carried out “uncontested surgical strikes” against missile facilities deep inside Iran.

The B-52 – America’s iconic heavy bomber

The B-52, one of the longest-serving aircraft in the United States Air Force, has earned a fearsome and deadly reputation over three quarters of a century.

Known as the Buff, the Big Ugly Fat Fellow – or, less politely, the Big Ugly Fat F***er – this heavy bomber is the backbone of the US strategic bomber force, designed to carry enormous payloads at high altitude over intercontinental distances.

The five-crew B-52 is capable of dropping and launching the widest array of weapons in the US inventory, according to the US Air Force, including gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision-guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions. This ability to launch long-range, “stand-off” weapons means crews can engage targets without entering dangerous, heavily defended enemy airspace.

The bomber can carry a payload of around 70,000 pounds (31 tons) of nuclear or conventional ordnance and can deploy up to 20 air-launched, self-guided AGM-86B cruise missiles, which have a range of 1,500 miles. The B-52 itself has a range of 8,800 miles, which can be extended through mid-air refuelling, meaning they are capable of striking Iran from the US mainland.

“Of all the weapons in the US inventory, none can deliver greater quantities of explosive ordnance, whether nuclear or conventional, and none has the same capacity to arouse awe and trepidation in the minds of potential targets,” says Michael T Klare, senior visiting fellow at the Arms Control Association and professor emeritus of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, Massachusetts.

The bomber marked its 70th anniversary last year, having come into service in 1955. However, its first flight – by the prototype the YB-52 – took place in April 1952, earning this geriatric bomber another nickname, the Stratosaurus. Its final variant, the B-52H model, entered service in 1961. Engine and radar overhauls and weapons upgrades mean its next model, “J”, could remain in service until the 2050s.

The B-52 has been used in every major US conflict since the 1960s. Designed to deliver nuclear munitions during the Cold War, it has rained explosives on Vietnam, and taken part in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2001.

Congress is pushing to restore its nuclear weapons capability to the whole fleet of 76 B-52H bombers. Some were denuclearised as part of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New Start) with Russia, which lapsed last month.

Could this be ‘the big one’?

The arrival of the bombers in Britain points to a likely scaling up of America’s long-range sorties across Iran. Trump has warned Tehran that the US has not “even started hitting them hard” and that “the big one is coming soon”.

The US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, said last week that firepower over Iran was “about to surge dramatically”, describing “more fighter squadrons, more defensive capabilities, and more bomber pulses more frequently”.

International Institute for Strategic Studies experts Sascha Bruchmann and Air Marshal (Retd) Martin “Sammy”’ Sampson wrote that, “Recent United Kingdom approvals for the US to use British bases have unlocked the capacity of B-52 and B-1 bomber fleets based in the UK and Diego Garcia.

Latest CENTCOM fact sheet shows BUFFs involved pic.twitter.com/ozsqYliYp9

“Each [B-1] is capable of carrying over 84 500-pound bombs, more than quadruple the capacity of the F-15 [fighter jet]. Size is about to matter more, and the nature of this air campaign is set to change.”

The B-52, which is not especially fast or stealthy, often operates alongside stealth or high-speed bombers. The US appears to have destroyed most of Iran’s air defences, achieving air superiority over much of the country. Any role the B-52 plays in Iran will come down to its ability to carry a huge number of munitions to destroy fixed targets.

“The basing of bombers in the UK could be part of that effort at scaling up sorties into Iran,” Christoph Bergs, research analyst for airpower ​​​at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London, told The i Paper. “Bombers would be most likely to go after high-value targets, such as long-range missile launchers and stockpiles.”

What is unclear is the scale of effort the US can mount from UK bases and what targets would be permissible, he added. Starmer has said the US can fly missions from UK bases for “specific and limited defensive purposes”.

For now, the arrival of B-52s and B-1s is a preparatory move, said Bergs. “Preparations for efforts to scale up the operation depends largely on the US administration and its planning,” he said.

RAF Fairford is the only dedicated US bomber forward operating location in the UK. Major bomber operations have been staged out of Fairford in the past, including against Iraq.

While last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran saw American B-2s fly from Missouri to Iran in one night with no need for British bases, the current conflict is a far more sustained campaign.

The distance between RAF Fairford and Iran’s western border is about 2,500 miles compared with about 6,500 miles from the US strategic bomber base in Missouri. So having access to both Fairford and Diego Garcia means the US can rearm and maintain planes more quickly and reduce stress on crew, shortening turnaround times and increasing the number of sorties.

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