【Text by Observer Net, Mountain Cat】

On the afternoon of November 27 local time, US President Donald Trump held a Thanksgiving call and speech with American military personnel at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he once again mentioned "purchasing more B-2 bombers".

Snapshot from the live video of President Trump's Thanksgiving call with military personnel on November 27

Trump started with the recent shooting incident involving National Guard members in Washington, D.C., listing immigration as the "top priority" for U.S. national security, and mentioned topics such as the border, tariffs, and the sixth-generation U.S. Air Force aircraft. He especially brought up the "Midnight Hammer" operation against Iran this year. Trump said that the U.S. has the strongest military force in the world and produces the best equipment. He proudly stated, "You can see those beautiful B-2 bombers (that attacked Iran), which completely destroyed Iran's nuclear potential and nuclear supply capability. They completed the mission in the dark night without moonlight, and every bomb hit its target, causing complete destruction." He also claimed that "some fake news claimed that the situation wasn't so bad after the attack on Iran, but now it's shown to be much worse." Trump thanked the B-2 pilots, maintenance crews, and other personnel involved in the mission, and once again mentioned "we just ordered another batch," which is Trump's latest statement about the U.S. Air Force "ordering a new batch of B-2 bombers."

Satellite image after the U.S. air strike on Iran's Fordow underground nuclear facility, showing the impact holes and ground collapse caused by the GBU-57 heavy bomb. Social media

Trump said the reason for doing so was because the B-2 was "totally incredible, totally invisible," meaning they were stealthy and undetectable. Although the Iranians knew the B-2 was coming, they couldn't see them. The entire mission lasted 37 hours, during which the engines didn't make even a single sound, no screws broke, and not a single piece of paint was damaged. The plane returned "unscathed" from the mission.

This is not the first time Trump has mentioned "buying new B-2 bombers." Earlier, on August 6 this year, during a press conference at the White House, Trump had previously announced that the U.S. had already ordered "new enhanced B-2 bombers," claiming that the aircraft was "similar to the current model but entirely different," while also holding up a model for display, which showed no obvious differences from the current B-2 bomber.

August, Trump claimed "purchase of an upgraded B-2 bomber" and displayed a model almost identical to the current B-2 bomber

On October 13 this year, when visiting Israel, Trump mentioned "ordering B-2 bombers" during his speech at the Israeli Knesset, claiming "the U.S. has just ordered 28 more, a slightly upgraded version, and a large number."

From 1988 to 2000, Northrop Grumman built a total of 21 B-2 bombers for the U.S. Air Force, including prototype aircraft. The "Spirit of Kansas" crashed in 2008. Last April, the U.S. Air Force decided to "strip" one B-2 in the 2025 fiscal year for repair. The AV-16 "Spirit of Hawaii" that caught fire in October 2022 was abandoned for repair and directly retired. There are currently 19 B-2 bombers in the fleet.

In April 2024, the U.S. used 12 B-2 bombers simultaneously for an "elephant walk" display

Excluding the first test flight prototype that was renovated in 2000 and delivered to the U.S. Air Force as an operational aircraft, the production of new B-2 bombers has long ended since 1997, and the production line has been closed for nearly 30 years. Northrop Grumman is now fully developing the B-21 as the next generation of U.S. Air Force bombers. Therefore, it is quite difficult for Trump's idea of continuing to purchase B-2s to be realized.

Therefore, the outside world has always been skeptical about Trump's statements on purchasing additional B-2s, including the possibility that he mixed up "producing a new upgraded aircraft" with "upgrading existing aircraft," or mistook the B-21 for the B-2. For example, the website "National Interests" reported on October 22 that although Trump's statement about "purchasing additional B-2s" could mean restarting the production line of the B-2 "Ghost" bomber on the surface, it is practically "impossible" due to technical factors.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7577723624208073216/

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