US Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar Three US Air Force B-2A Spirit bombers are at the secretive island base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for the first time since 2016. The B-2, a nuclear-capable stealth bomber designed to penetrate enemy air defenses, is back in the Indian Ocean amid rising tensions between China and its neighbors, who are supported by the US. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The US Air Force has deployed three B-2 stealth bombers to the tiny island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for the first time since 2016, as China continues to ramp up its live-fire military exercises. The American B-2A nuclear-capable Spirit bombers took off on Tuesday from the Whiteman air force base in Missouri, flew across northern Australia and on to the militarised atoll that forms part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.