In the early hours of October 17, 2024, an extraordinary deployment of American airpower materialized over Yemen. The United States Air Force’s massive B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, an aircraft valued at over two billion dollars, descended upon territory controlled by Houthi rebels to strike five underground weapons storage locations. Under the cover of darkness, the Spirit’s bombs rained down on facilities around Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and the northern city of Saada, marking the first B-2 attack in the country’s history.With only nineteen B-2s remaining in service, the selection of the aircraft for this mission raised immediate questions. The Houthis possessed only rudimentary air defenses – hardly the kind of sophisticated threat the stealth bomber was designed to penetrate. Yet the use of such a rare and powerful bomber against these targets suggested that perhaps this attack was designed to send shockwaves far beyond its immediate tactical objectives…