A Better AUKUS Plan: Give Australia the B-2 Stealth Bomber?

Forget Submarines: A Radical Plan to Give Australia B-2 Stealth Bombers

Key Points and Summary

-With the AUKUS submarine deal facing serious challenges due to U.S. shipbuilding constraints, a radical new solution has been proposed: give Australia retired B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.

-This would provide a fully sovereign, long-range, precision-strike capability to counter China, bypassing the submarine production bottleneck.

-The B-2, which is being replaced by the B-21, remains a highly capable platform already proven in maritime strike roles and has experience operating from Australia.

-The move would significantly augment Australia’s deterrent power in the Indo-Pacific while strengthening the AUKUS partnership.

How to Save AUKUS: The B-2 Spirit Heads to Canberra to Deter China? 

The future of AUKUS, that awkwardly-named tripartite strategic agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States that covers the sharing of underwater nuclear propulsion with the Royal Australian Navy, seems up in the air.

The American shipbuilding base is struggling to churn out new submarines for the United States Navy on schedule while also balancing its future commitments to Australia under AUKUS.

According to the terms of that agreement, the United States will sell a new class of submarines to Australia, while the Royal Australian Navy familiarizes itself with the specifics of operating nuclear submarines, gaining experience on former U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines.

Although Australia has injected billions of dollars into the American submarine-building industry, it may not be enough to get submarine building back on track.

Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary of Defense of Policy, and a staunch China hawk, has questioned the wisdom of giving new nuclear-powered submarines to Australia if that means American Sailors wouldn’t get the submarines they had planned on fielding.

Stealth Bomber Time

However, perhaps there is another solution, one that could enhance Australia’s ability to conduct long-range, strategic — and, perhaps most importantly, stealthy — strikes in the Indo-Pacific without relying on submarines.

How? By giving Australia retired B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.

Writing in The Strategist, a publication from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, two commentators noted that the country would operate American-supplied B-2s independently, and that the boost to Australian air power would also be a boost to the underwater AUKUS agreement.

“Australia, to be clear,” the pair wrote, “would be acquiring the B-2A as a fully sovereign capability, to boost its deterrent and war-fighting capabilities, with China’s strategic challenge primarily in mind.” Furthermore, Washington “would also gain by further enabling a close ally to make a stabilising contribution to the regional balance of power, through a significant augmentation to its air power, alongside the development of undersea and other capabilities via AUKUS.”

Although the B-2 Spirit is the world’s first and therefore the oldest stealth bomber currently in existence, it remains a capable platform. Most recently, the Pentagon applied the B-2 to the problem of Iran’s underground nuclear program, using the bombers to drop over a dozen bunker-busting munitions in quick succession against the Iranian regime’s nuclear infrastructure.

Thanks to continuous modernizations and upgrades, the B-2 remains the pacing nuclear bomber, despite its Cold War-era vintage. However, it will soon be replaced by the B-21 Raider, an outwardly similar yet highly advanced stealth bomber.

Rather than retiring the B-2 outright, there is a case to be made that sending the strategic bomber makes the most sense for both the United States and Australia. Recent war games offer a potent preview of the Spirit’s ability to take out maritime targets.

“The B-2A is well suited to meet Australia’s capability requirements in terms of range, payload and stand-alone platform survivability. There are indications that the B-2A is already transitioning to a long-range precision strike role—delivering such weapons as the AGM-158B JASSM-ER, with which it was integrated in 2022,” The Strategist article noted.

“Maritime strike was a particular focus of the B-2A’s participation in last year’s RIMPAC exercises, when it demonstrated the use of modified JDAM gravity bombs as low-cost ship-sinkers. These are capabilities the Royal Australian Air Force already fields.” And indeed, the B-2 stealth bomber already has experience operating in and out of Australia.

Why It Could Work 

Just last summer, a Bomber Task Force made up of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and the Airmen who support B-2 operations flew to a Royal Australian Air Force Base at Amberley, in Australia, and had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with operations from the base as well as the particular topography and operational features unique to both Australia as the greater Indo-Pacific region.

It should be noted that Australia has not operated a dedicated bomber aircraft of any kind since 2010, when it finally retired the F-111 bomber. Although it operates a range of American aircraft, including the F-35A stealth fighter and the older fourth-generation F/A-18F Super Hornet, both of these fighters face limitations in range, payload, and stealth capabilities compared to the B-2 Spirit.

An Idea That Can Work for Australia? 

Standing up a credible B-2 Spirit stealth bomber force in Australia faces limitations. Some months, if not years, would be necessary to train the pilots, Airmen, maintainers, and other logistical and support elements to create a robust and effective B-2 presence in Australia — but it can be done.

Another element worth considering is the size of the B-2 bomber fleet, which currently consists of only 19 operational aircraft. The B-2 Spirit production line is also closed and is extremely unlikely to be revived anytime soon.

Combat B-2 losses of even just a handful of aircraft would dramatically restrict that bomber’s operations. But as a workaround for dramatically increasing Australia’s ability to strike targets far distant from its shores, the B-2 Spirit might have an opportunity.

About the Author: Caleb Larson

Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.

More Military

Europe Now Hates the F-35 Fighter

The Su-57 Felon: Worst Stealth Fighter Ever

The U.S.-Venezuela War of 2025? 

The F-15EX Eagle II Doesn’t Need Your Stealth Pity