US B2 Bomber arrives in Diego Garcia base in Indian Ocean -Beijing within striking range-A strong message to China

 US B2 Bomber arrives in Diego Garcia base in Indian Ocean -Beijing within striking range-A strong message to China 

Introduction

China lately have been aggressive in nature towards its neighbors India and Taiwan. China is also seen continuously taking aggressive military actions in the South China sea to counter other countries claim in the region. Repeated threats from China towards Taiwan to conquer Taiwan and make it its own territory as per the One china policy has lead to rise in tension in the region.

On the other hand china's military have been involved in an dispute with Indian army in Galwan valley in the north eastern border region of India. China also keeps on questioning the US's presence in the South china sea and wants the US navy to stop patrolling the seas which is international waters as per the united nations. China have already claimed that South china sea belongs to the Chinese since and it is an strategic waterway since one third of global shipment goes through the South china sea.

Image-B-2 Bomber

B2 Spirit bomber

Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber is an state of the art heavy strategic bomber with stealth technology designed for penetrating areas with equipped with anti-aircraft defense systems.

B-2 spirit is designed and developed to carry both conventional and thermonuclear bombs. It's  first flight took place on 17th July 1989 and about 21 of these were built for the US air force. Each B2 can carry up to eighty  500-pound class Mk 82 JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400-pound B 83 nuclear bombs.

Each unit of B-2 spirit costs around $737 million. B-2 can reach an altitude of about 50,000 feet and has an range of 6,000 nautical miles. The range of the bomber can be extended up to 10,000 nautical miles by mid air refueling.

B-2 spirit has already proved its capability in the Kosovo war in 1999 and later served for the US in Iraq,Afghanistan and Libya. The stealth technology of the airplane is so advanced that no plane has been yet lost in any combat situation.

As of now 20 B-2 are in service and the US air force will operate these until 2032 and it will be replaced by  Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

Image-B-2 bomber dropping bombs

Implication of B-2 bomber in Indian ocean

Amidst the rising tensions with China in the south china sea and threat to both Taiwan and neighboring islands ; US had already deployed two aircraft carriers namely Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz in South China sea to ensure safety of Taiwan and in support of free and open Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand dispute between China and India is far from over and repeated talks have failed and china is not willing to withdraw its troops across the border with India.

Reports have come in that China has deployed its fifth generation J-20 stealth fighter on its forward bases. China is also keeping an close eye on India's air bases and have moved its ballistic missiles like DF 26 towards the Indo-China border.

Recently China have been seen preparing its radar and air defense systems to prevent the attack by Indian Agni series missiles which are nuclear capable inter continental ballistic missiles.

United states of America have moved three of its B-2 bomber from home base in Missouri to Diego Garcia one of its major geostrategic and logistics support base in the Indian Ocean. The bases also holds special hangers meant to keep B-2 stealth bombers as per the requirements for a prolonged period of time without damaging the stealth coating of the bomber.

Image-Diego Garcia base in Indian Ocean

 In addition to these bombers US have also stationed 200 US air force personnel's in the air base.

The base is located right in the heart of Indian ocean and is strategically a choke point for US adversaries in the area since this base is located merely 4,293 miles or 6 909 km from Chinese capital city Beijing.

Also it is very close to India and is located around 2,494 miles or 4 014 km from Indian capital New Delhi or any of Indian forward air bases.

In any event of emergency US can quickly deploy B2- spirit and prevent any act of aggression from Chinese side.  US  air force commander colonel Christopher Conant said that we have come to an important place like Diego Garcia. We are ready to help our friends in the Indian ocean  and are intensifying our ability to attack.

To worsen the situation Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is expected to stage a series of exercises that are likely intended to simulate the storming of Taiwanese islands in the region and presence of B2 bombers in the area will potentially make china think twice before taking any action. There is also speculations that the B-2 will take part in Malabar joint naval exercise between US and India later this year.