Operation Midnight Hammer: Gen Dan Caine says Tomahawk missiles from submarines struck Isfahan while B2 bombers targeted Fordow

“Operation Midnight Hammer,” the United States military operation targeting Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, involved more than 125 aircraft, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told reporters on Sunday. 

 

Among the U.S. Air Force’s fighter jets that participated in strikes on Tehran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities were seven B-2 stealth bombers, which dropped more than a dozen 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) payloads, General Caine said.

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What weapons were used in Operation Midnight Hammer? The “bunker buster” MOP bombs were unloaded over Fordow and Natanz by the B-2s, which took off from a base in Missouri. Meanwhile, Isfahan came under attack by Tomahawk cruise missiles, he added. More than two dozen Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. Navy submarines to obliterate the Isfahan facility.

 

General Caine stated that "Operation Midnight Hammer" saw the B-2 bombers accompanied by refuelling tankers, reconnaissance planes, and other fighter jets.

 

The accompanying fighter aircraft were tasked with the objective of “ensuring safe passage” for the B-2 bombers, and “high-speed suppression weapons” were used as they approached their targets. There were no solo fliers as each B-2 bomber had both a pilot and a co-pilot, and the entire flight team was instructed to proceed with “minimal communications.”

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When did the strikes happen? The operation began at 6:40 p.m. ET, and all aircraft had exited Iranian airspace by 7:00 p.m. ET. The exact number of bunker busters used during the mission was 16, the top U.S. Army general confirmed. 

 

Did US plan a decoy manoeuvre? Yes. As a part of the operation the US Air Force deployed bombers over the Pacific but this was a “decoy” to confuse Tehran. “As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded west into the Pacific as a decoy — a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa,” Caine reportedly said.

Middle East