{
  "id": "us-bomber-force",
  "name": "U.S. nuclear bomber force",
  "aliases": [
    "Bomber leg"
  ],
  "domain": "nuclear",
  "country": "USA",
  "category": "Nuclear force component",
  "status": "active",
  "fielded": null,
  "operators": [
    "USA"
  ],
  "summary": "Air leg of the U.S. triad: B-2A and B-52H bombers armed with cruise missiles and gravity bombs.",
  "specs": [
    {
      "k": "platforms",
      "v": "B-2A: 19 (about 18 assigned nuclear missions); B-52H: 76, of which 46 nuclear-capable (about 42 assigned)",
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "wh_assigned",
      "v": 805,
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium",
      "note": "About 500 are ALCMs"
    },
    {
      "k": "wh_deployed",
      "v": 300,
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium",
      "note": "Weapons at bomber bases; about 505 in central storage at Kirtland AFB"
    },
    {
      "k": "delivery",
      "v": "AGM-86B ALCM (B-52H, up to 20); B61-7, B61-11, B61-12, B61-13 and B83-1 bombs (B-2A, up to 16)",
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "bases",
      "v": "Minot AFB, Barksdale AFB, Whiteman AFB; Ellsworth and Dyess planned as nuclear storage bases by the 2030s",
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "program",
      "v": "B-21 Raider: at least 100 planned (possibly up to 145); AGM-181 LRSO to replace AGM-86B from 2030 (1,087 planned)",
      "src": [
        "fas-nn-us-2026"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    }
  ],
  "payloads": [],
  "variants": [],
  "art": "nuclear",
  "image": {
    "file": "us-bomber-force.jpg",
    "thumb": "us-bomber-force-thumb.jpg",
    "credit": "Senior Airman Joshua Hastings, U.S. Air Force / DVIDS",
    "license": "Public domain",
    "url": "https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8979946",
    "title": "Spirits of Indiana and Louisiana depart Whiteman AFB",
    "source": "DVIDS",
    "dvids_id": 8979946,
    "unit": "509th Bomb Wing"
  },
  "verified": null,
  "changelog": [
    {
      "date": "2026-11-08",
      "change": "Entry created from United States nuclear weapons, 2026 (FAS Nuclear Notebook)"
    }
  ],
  "url": "https://www.defensepedia.com/systems/us-bomber-force.html",
  "sources": {
    "fas-nn-us-2026": {
      "title": "United States nuclear weapons, 2026",
      "publisher": "Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Notebook, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists",
      "url": "https://thebulletin.org/premium/2026-03/united-states-nuclear-weapons-2026/",
      "published": "2026-03-01",
      "tier": 2,
      "checked": "2026-11-08"
    }
  }
}