Mystery in the Skies: B‑2 Stealth Bomber Fails to Return After Strike on Iran

According to Saed News, during the recent U.S. Air Force Operation “Midnight Hammer” targeting Iran’s Fordow and Natanz facilities, one B‑2 Spirit bomber did not make it back to Whiteman Air Force Base. Instead, the aircraft declared an in‑flight emergency and diverted to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu—co‑located with Hickam Air Force Base—where it has remained grounded under the call sign “MYTEE 14.”

U.S. officials have offered no public explanation for the technical fault that prompted the diversion. Video footage shared by former USAF pilot David Martin has only deepened speculation about the nature of the malfunction. This is not the first time a B‑2 has executed an unplanned Hawaiian touch‑down—similar incidents occurred in December 2022 and April 2023.

Eurasian Times reports that on June 21, two groups of B‑2s departed Whiteman AFB. A decoy flight vector crossed the Pacific, while a second formation of seven bombers successfully delivered fourteen GBU‑57 “Massive Ordnance Penetrator” munitions on Iran’s underground enrichment complexes, then returned after a grueling 37‑hour mission.

Valued at over $2 billion each and numbering only nineteen in service, the B‑2 Spirit remains a linchpin of U.S. strategic deterrence—its low observable design allowing it to penetrate the most heavily defended airspace. According to the IRGC’s account of the strike, one B‑2 completed its bombing run over Fordow and Natanz before encountering an unspecified emergency.

Pilots on “Midnight Hammer” flew under radio silence, relying on advanced navigation systems and in‑flight rest rotations to maintain peak alertness across one of the longest combat sorties in recent memory. Yet Washington’s refusal to clarify the incident only deepens the enigma surrounding the bomber’s unplanned layover.

As “MYTEE 14” awaits repairs—its technical condition still classified—analysts note that any prolonged grounding reduces the slender inventory of operational stealth bombers and underscores the high stakes of deploying such rare assets in high‑risk theaters. The unanswered questions about what went wrong over the Indian Ocean now form a new chapter in the shadowy history of elite U.S. aviation.