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Still of a Facebook post by the Whiteman Air Force Base page on Nov. 24 showing the Spirit Elephant Walk exercise.

The 509th Munitions Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, US, recently posted a video on social media of the nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit stealth bombers training on US mainland while fully armed.

According to the base’s Facebook page on Sunday, the squadron announced Thursday it executed the B-2 Spirit Elephant Walk drill, in which eight fully armed B-2As fly, and stated that “this routine training ensures our Airmen are always ready to execute nuclear operations and global strike anytime, anywhere.”

The 509th Munitions Squadron operates 19 B-2s, which is considered one of the top three US strategic bombers along with the B-52H and B-1B. The B-2 can fly up to 12,000 kilometers without refueling and has a wingspan of 52.4 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 176,600 kilograms, a maximum speed of Mach 0.95, and an armed payload of 18 tons.

A B-2 stealth bomber flies through the air.  (Yonhap)

Unlike the B-1B, the B-2 also has a stealth function. It can carry 16 B61 and B83 nuclear bombs and air-launched cruise missiles.

Appearing on a Voice of America Korea broadcast on Saturday, Bruce Bennett, a senior researcher at the US military think tank Rand Corp, called the action a stern message to Kim Jong-un, characterizing the B-2 as “a serious threat to the regime in terms of its ability to get to targets and destroy them without the North Korean knowing it's coming.”

By Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

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