Naps and amphetamines How the US pilots were able to fly the marathon bombing raid on Iran
The 37-hour US bombing raid on three nuclear facilities in Iran last weekend pushed the pilots to the limits of human endurance. How did they prepare for the mission?
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- The US bombing raid on Iranian nuclear facilities lasted around 37 hours, making it one of the longest airstrikes in modern military history, flown by seven B-2 bombers and putting enormous strain on the crews.
- Former B-2 pilot Melvin G. Deaile describes his own experiences from a 44-hour mission in 2001, during which pilots were prepared for the exertions with simulator training, sleeping pills and amphetamines.
Last weekend's US bombing raid on three nuclear facilities in Iran lasted around 37 hours. Seven B-2 stealth bombers, each with two crew members, flew non-stop halfway around the world and back again - one of the longest air raids in modern military history and an enormous strain on the pilots.
Melvin G. Deaile knows what it's like to sit in the cockpit during such a marathon mission. The retired Air Force colonel was part of the B-2 crew whose 44-hour bombing raid over Afghanistan in 2001 still holds the record for the longest mission.
He described aspects of his mission at the time toCNN, but made it clear that he was drawing exclusively on his own experience, had no personal insight into Saturday's attack and was not speaking on behalf of the Department of Defense.
"Go pills" to stay awake
For the Afghanistan mission, mission-qualified pilots were trained on a long-term simulator to adjust their sleep cycles. However, these simulations usually only lasted 24 hours at a time. Flight physicians also gave the crews sleeping pills in the days before the attacks so that they could rest before the mission, reports Deaile.
It was customary for both crew members of a B-2 bomber to sit in their seats during critical flight situations such as take-off, refueling, bombing and landing. In the hours in between, they took turns sleeping in a small cot behind the seats in the cockpit. "Of course, anyone who goes on a combat mission is exposed to a certain amount of fear," Deaile tells CNN, "but at some point you do get to sleep, simply because your body needs it."
Both crew members were also given chemical support to stay awake. "The flight physician had approved so-called 'go pills' to take - amphetamines," says Deaile.
"Piss bags" filled with cat litter
The toilet situation on board was primitive, Deaile continues. Although there was a chemical toilet, it was only used in "more important emergencies" so as not to overfill it. There was no partition between the toilet and the pilot's seats. "Privacy is when you look away," he says. But high altitudes have a dehydrating effect, so it was essential to drink enough. Deaile estimates that he and the other pilot drank about one bottle of water per hour. They urinated in Ziploc "piss bags" filled with kitty litter.
The retired Air Force colonel emphasizes that guidelines may have changed in the more than two decades between his flight over Afghanistan and the recent mission. His experience may not be the same as that of Saturday's bomber crews.
