The United States Air Force used B-1 “Lancer” strategic bombers to attack targets in Iran during the first days of the war, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Monday.
Further, in a press conference on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated the aircraft could see expanded use for the remainder of the war.
In a post on X/Twitter on Monday, OSINT account DefenseGeek reported that three B-1 bombers had participated in attacks against Iran. Accompanied by a total of nine KC-46 Pegasus tankers, the bombers reportedly flew from the Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and back without stopping.
Hours later, CENTCOM verified the claim in another X post, stating that B-1 bombers “struck deep inside Iran to degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities.” Additionally, the post included a video showing the bombers taking off at night, but did not mention from where they took off.
Similarly, in the joint press conference with Gen. Dan Caine on Wednesday, Hegseth warned that B-1 bombers, along with other aircraft, could see expanded use as the war continues.
“B-2s, B-52s, B-1s, Predator drones, [and fighter jets] controlling the skies and selecting targets” could become the new normal for Iran, he said.
B-1’s roots go back to the Cold War
During the early years of the Cold War, as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated, Washington relied on nuclear-armed B-52 bombers as a central pillar of its strategy to deter Soviet military aggression.
However, as Soviet anti-aircraft systems modernized in the late 1950s, the Pentagon recognized the need to develop a faster, stealthier bomber capable of carrying a nuclear deterrent.
The first B-1 variant, the B-1A, saw four prototypes built. Still, the program was never brought into service, and in 1977, President Jimmy Carter cancelled the B-1A program as Washington chose to focus on missiles and the already-capable B-52.
In 1982, amid heightened Soviet threats and renewed fears that the B-52 was too old to counter them, the Reagan administration ordered a new production run of the B-1. Adapted to a new generation of warfare, the new series featured reduced maximum speed and altitude, leading to a lower radar signature.
The B-1 first saw combat in 1998 and was initially used by the US Air Force in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. The B-1 carries the largest conventional payload of any US bomber, at more than 75,000 pounds. It commonly carries 2,000-pound JDAM munitions, allowing for large-scale, precise targeting.
B-1 possibly targeted missile storage
Now, though the exact targets of the missions remain unclear, deploying B-1 bombers from the continental United States to strike Iran, rather than relying on already-deployed aircraft, suggests the strikes were aimed at heavily fortified or underground facilities.
CENTCOM’s claim of striking “Iranian missile capabilities” likely points to attacks on ballistic missiles in storage, as Iran maintains several fortified underground facilities for housing its missile arsenal.
Satellite images of known missile storage facilities from March 1, the day of the B-1 strike, reveal significant damage and structural collapses, lending some support to reports of the attack, although CENTCOM had previously confirmed that B-2 bombers targeted missile facilities a day earlier.
After accomplishing air superiority over Iran, vowing to use bombers such as the B-1 to hit high-value targets could show that the US expects a longer campaign, possibly shifting from a limited strike outlook towards a sustained effort to thoroughly degrade the regime’s strategic capabilities.