--- title: "A B-2 bomber fly-by greeted Putin over summit in Alaska" description: "The Air Force staged a show of power with a flyover featuring a B-2 bomber ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska." date: "2025-08-15" modified: "2025-08-15" authors: - name: "Nicholas Slayton" job_title: "Contributing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/nicholas-slayton/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-b2-trump-putin/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" tags: - "Russia" - "ukraine" --- # A B-2 bomber fly-by greeted Putin over summit in Alaska ![A B-2 bomber (C) and four F-35 fighter jets fly overhead as US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac after they arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. Putin is in Alaska at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)]() *A B-2 Bomber and four fighter escorts buzzed over Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images* An Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber flew overhead as Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday met with President Donald Trump on a U.S. Air Force flightline in Alaska. The stealth bomber, used for some of the most high-profile U.S. strikes in the Middle East this year, flew over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson flanked by four F-35 fighter jets. On the ground, Putin and Trump met on the tarmac for a major summit to discuss the war in Ukraine, currently in its fourth year. The bomber was one of two B-2s sent to Alaska this week ahead of the summit. Flight data showed two B-2s flying from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri to Alaska in the hours before the two leaders met. The U.S. Air force operates 19 B-2 bombers, based out of Whiteman Air Force Base. Some are occasionally forward deployed to the Indo-Pacific, but they are capable of carrying out intercontinental strikes that begin and end at the Missouri base. Seven B-2s took part in Operation Midnight Hammer in June, dropping 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, onto two of the three [nuclear facilities]() in Iran targeted in the attack. The bombers crossed the Atlantic, dropped their munitions and returned to Whiteman. Whiteman Air Force Base did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the flyover. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is also one of the installations hosting the [Northern Edge 2025 exercise](), a multi-domain training operation starting this week and centered around Alaska. B-2s have taken part in the biannual exercise in the past, although the flyover today does not appear to be a part of that. There is a long history of gamesmanship and jousting between U.S. and Russian aircraft around Alaska. U.S. fighter aircraft like the F-35 based at Elmendorf and Eielson Air Force base near Fairbanks patrol the skies around the northern state, in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone. They [warned away]() Russian planes that enter that zone for decades, with the interactions increasing in recent years as Russia has upped its interest in the region. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is home to the 3rd Wing, which flies F-22 fighter jets. Four of those jets were on the ground flanking the red carpet as Putin and Trump walked inside to have their meeting. The summit is ongoing. ## Author Nicholas Slayton is a contributing editor for Task & Purpose, covering conflict for over 12 years, from the Arab Spring to the war in Ukraine. His previous reporting can be found on the non-profit Aslan Media, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, The Daily Beast, and the Los Angeles Downtown News. You can reach him at nicholas@taskandpurpose.com or find him on Twitter @NSlayton and Bluesky at @nslayton.bsky.social. ### Author social links [Twitter]()