Operation Midnight Hammer: US Launches Devastating Precision Strike on Iranian Nuclear Facilities. Years in the making, this unprecedented attack utilized B-2 stealth bombers, cruise missiles, and sophisticated deception tactics to cripple Iran's uranium enrichment program. The surprise assault, following days of Israeli strikes, involved 420,000 pounds of explosives targeting key underground facilities. Iran denies significant damage, vowing retaliation
U.S. pilots dropped 30,000-pound bombs early Sunday on two key underground uranium enrichment plants in Iran, delivering what American military leaders believe is a knockout blow to a nuclear program that Israel views as an existential threat and has been pummeling for more than a week. American sailors bolstered the surprise mission by firing dozens of cruise missiles from a submarine toward at least one other site.
Operation Midnight Hammer: Devastating US Precision Strike on Iranian Nuclear Facilities. A surprise attack involving B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles targeted key Iranian uranium enrichment plants, inflicting significant damage according to US officials. Iran denies substantial impact and vows retaliation. The operation, involving 420,000 pounds of explosives, utilized deceptive tactics and followed days of Israeli strikes
Operation Midnight Hammer: B-2 Stealth Bombers launch a surprise, precision strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, delivering 420,000 pounds of explosives undetected. Supported by a fleet of tankers and fighter jets, the attack, originating from the U.S. heartland, successfully avoided Iranian detection and response
Operation Midnight Hammer: A Deceptive Precision Strike on Iran's Nuclear Program. Nine days of prior Israeli attacks weakened Iran's defenses, paving the way for a surprise U.S. assault using B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles. Decoy tactics and misdirection ensured the secrecy of this unprecedented operation, which involved 420,000 pounds of explosives targeting key uranium enrichment plants
Operation Midnight Hammer: A Deceptive Iran Strike. Even before the B-2 stealth bombers launched, a sophisticated deception strategy was underway. President Trump's Thursday announcement of a two-week decision deadline on a potential Iran strike – ostensibly for negotiations – served as a crucial element of misdirection, masking the imminent attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. This strategic maneuver, combined with other deceptive tactics, ensured the surprise success of the unprecedented operation
B-2 Spirit stealth bombers executed a daring, multi-pronged deception strategy preceding a surprise attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. While a decoy group of B-2s flew west from Missouri, drawing attention from observers, seven other B-2s, each carrying two massive bunker-buster bombs, secretly flew east, maintaining radio silence for maximum stealth. This elaborate operation, part of Operation Midnight Hammer, ensured the element of surprise crucial to the mission's success
Operation Midnight Hammer: A meticulously planned surprise attack involving B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles crippled Iran's nuclear program. Air Force General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the operation's secrecy, revealing only a select few planners and key leaders in Washington and Florida (US Central Command) were aware of the precision strike's details, ensuring tactical surprise
Unseen and undetected, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, each with a two-person crew, completed an 18-hour mission, utilizing aerial refueling, to the Eastern Mediterranean. From there, escorted by U.S. fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft, they launched precision strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities before returning safely. This operation, part of Operation Midnight Hammer, showcased the capabilities of U.S. stealth technology and long-range strike capabilities
Pentagon map reveals B-2 stealth bomber flight path over Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq during Operation Midnight Hammer, raising questions about prior notification to these countries and U.S. Congress. While the White House reportedly gave some Republicans advance notice, most lawmakers remained unaware of the surprise Iranian nuclear facility strike
U.S. B-2 stealth bombers launched a surprise, precision strike on Iranian uranium enrichment plants in Operation Midnight Hammer. The devastating attack, involving 420,000 pounds of explosives, was executed with complete secrecy, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed: "Our B-2s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all." The operation, supported by cruise missiles and a large air armada, aimed to cripple Iran's nuclear program
US submarine launches Tomahawk missiles against Iranian nuclear sites, preceding B-2 stealth bomber strikes in Operation Midnight Hammer. An hour before B-2 bombers targeted Isfahan's uranium enrichment facility, a US submarine unleashed over two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles on key Iranian nuclear infrastructure, delivering a coordinated precision strike
Unescorted B-2 stealth bombers successfully delivered 420,000 pounds of ordnance on Iranian nuclear facilities, evading Iranian fighter jets and surface-to-air missile defenses during Operation Midnight Hammer
Operation Midnight Hammer: B-2 Stealth Bombers Deploy GBU-57 Bunker Busters on Iranian Nuclear Sites. At 6:40 PM EST (2:10 AM Tehran time), the first B-2 bomber unleashed two 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), the first combat use of these bunker-busting bombs, targeting Iran's deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant. Each bomb's design allows it to penetrate the earth before detonating a powerful warhead
The Fordo site received the bulk of the bombardment, though a couple of the enormous bombs were also dropped on a uranium enrichment site at Natanz.
The U.S. bombs fell for about half an hour, with cruise missiles fired from submarines being the last American weapons to hit their targets, which included a third nuclear site at Isfahan, Caine said.
Both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites.
The mission included:
— 75 precision-guided weapons: these included 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs deployed by the seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and more than two-dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U.S. submarine.
— 125 aircraft, including the B-2 bombers, fighter jets and refueling planes.
Hegseth said Sunday that “our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.”
But a U.S. official said one woman was among those piloting the B-2 bombers. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the mission publicly.
Caine said the use of the bunker-buster bombs made the mission historic, as did other elements.
“This was the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, and the second longest B-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11,” he told reporters Sunday.
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Lolita C. Baldor in Narragansett, Rhode Island and Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri, contributed reporting. Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina.
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