The B-2, which has been at the Missouri base since 1993, has been flying since the 1990s and is still the world’s only long-range bomber with technology that makes the batwing aircraft difficult for radar to detect and track. The Bomb Wing at Whiteman is responsible for flying the fleet of 20 nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to targets around the world, often directly.
Japan surrendered six days later, ending the war. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing about 70,000 people. The government in Japan has said that thousands of people have been categorized as still sick from the Hiroshima bombing’s radiation. The bomb destroyed much of Hiroshima and killed tens of thousands of its citizens. Tibbets Jr., was assigned to a predecessor of the 509th Bomb Wing when he piloted the Enola Gay in the world’s first atomic bomb mission on Aug. Glen VanHerck, who has led the wing since February 2014. Tibbets IV took command of the 509th Bomb Wing during a ceremony at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, replacing Brig. (AP) - A grandson and namesake of the man who piloted the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II took over leadership Friday of the United States’ aging fleet of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers.īrig.