Washington has revealed what it describes as the resounding tactical success of Operation Midnight Hammer, a long-range airstrike targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
The operation began Saturday with a calculated deception. A group of B-2 bombers took off from their base in Missouri and headed toward Guam, leading analysts to believe a potential strike was being staged from the Pacific. However, this formation was only a decoy.
The actual strike force, consisting of seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, flew east undetected for 18 hours. The aircraft maintained radio silence, refueled mid-air, and remained invisible to enemy radar as they approached Iranian airspace.
As the bombers closed in on their targets, a US submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles. At the same time, American fighter jets acted as decoys, sweeping ahead to draw out any Iranian air defenses.
The attack on Iran’s three main nuclear facilities was the largest operational deployment of B-2 bombers in history. It was also the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by those conducted after the September 11 attacks.
The bombers dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, each weighing over 13,000 kilograms. The Pentagon confirmed the operation involved more than 125 US military aircraft.
According to the US military, the mission was flawlessly executed. “The Iranians were caught completely flat-footed,” said General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Pentagon briefing on Sunday. “Iran’s fighters didn’t fly, and it appears their surface-to-air missile systems never saw us. We retained the element of surprise.”
Initial damage assessments indicated that all three targeted nuclear sites sustained extremely severe damage. Caine declined to speculate on whether Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been fully eliminated.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered a stronger assessment. “It was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” he said.
Caine noted that Midnight Hammer was so secretive that very few officials in Washington were aware of the plan’s timing or nature. Many senior figures only learned of the operation when President Donald Trump posted about it on social media Saturday night.
