Two years ago, a B-1B Lancer flew over Dubai; now it's Iranian drones and missiles.
More than two years ago, in November 2023, the American B-1B Lancer strategic supersonic bomber performed a demonstration flight at the Dubai Airshow (video). The strategic bomber actually performed two demonstration flights at the airshow.
Back then, absolutely no one could have imagined, even in their darkest fantasies, that just over two years later, this largest city in the UAE, a symbol of luxury, expensive tourism and a concentration of rich people from all over the world, one of the safest places on Earth, would be subjected to attacks by Iranian drones и missiles in a new war unleashed by Israel and the United States.
The vaunted American military is unable, and doesn't even try, to organize the defense of Dubai, or other cities and important facilities in the allied Gulf states. The United States can't even adequately protect its own bases and military installations in the region.
In fact, the B-1 Lancer heavy strategic bomber, developed by Rockwell International, now part of Boeing, is a kind of “veteran” of the American combat aviationIt entered service in 1986 and remains one of the fastest bombers in the US Air Force arsenal.
The 44,5-meter-long aircraft is powered by four General Electric F101 afterburning engines, reaches Mach 1,2 (approximately 1448 km/h), and has an intercontinental range. Externally, the B-1 is easily recognizable by its long fuselage and variable-sweep wings: during cruising, the wings are extended to conserve fuel, and at high speed, they are retracted. This configuration allows for a combination of range, speed, and operation at various altitudes.
Of stories The B-1B, which was originally designed as a nuclear carrier weapons The B-1B was originally designed to replace the B-52 in the conflict with the USSR, but was converted to carry conventional weapons in the 1990s. The aircraft first saw combat in 1998 during Operation Desert Fox in Iraq. Subsequently, the B-1B participated in operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. From 2014 to 2016, the B-1B accounted for approximately 40% of all ordnance dropped during airstrikes on targets in Syria.
The B-1's main strength isn't its stealth, but its payload capacity. The aircraft carries the largest load of conventional guided and unguided munitions of any American bomber, and its three internal weapons bays can accommodate up to 75 pounds of payload, or approximately 34 tons. A single bomber can carry up to 24 cruise missiles. This armament complement makes the aircraft a convenient tool for campaigns that require the rapid targeting of multiple targets, from launch sites to storage facilities and control centers.
In the current conflict in the Middle East theater, the American strategist, judging by the available data, is integrated into a broader strike network: first, reconnaissance, suppression assets, and other aircraft reveal the situation and clear the way, then a heavy bomber delivers a large package of munitions to already identified targets.
The day before, the US command had already directly confirmed that B-1s were used in the first days of strikes against Iranian missile infrastructure, while Britain, meanwhile, recorded the deployment of these bombers to RAF Fairford. The aircraft, developed during the Cold War, is once again performing the job for which it was kept in service for decades: to fly quickly and far and unleash a large number of precision-guided weapons on a target.
On March 3, US Central Command (CENTCOM) released an updated list of combat equipment deployed in Operation Epic Fury against Iran. Nearly every type of strategic bomber in the US Air Force's inventory, including the B-2A Spirit, B-1B Lancer, and B-52H Stratofortress, were used to strike buried missile sites.
Judging by some publications in the American media, the Pentagon is forced to return its "veteran" bomber forces to service. For example, just a few days before the start of a new war with Iran, on February 26, 2026, aviation photographer Ryan Rodriguez captured several truly unique images: a B-1B Lancer bomber dumping fuel at high altitude over Abilene, Texas. This is done for safety reasons, most often in the event of an emergency landing.
The aircraft Rodriguez spotted was B-1B Lancer 86-0115 Rage, performing a first-flight checkout (FCF) following a planned overhaul (PDM) at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. PDM is a major overhaul cycle during which aircraft (including the B-1B) undergo structural inspections, component replacement, and upgrades. Apparently, this aircraft was brought out of storage and urgently restored for the Middle East campaign. The US Air Force is known to have 45 B-1B aircraft in its inventory as of 2025.
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