Inside Operation Midnight Hammer which saw US drop 14 bunker-buster bombs on Iran
The US strike on Iranian nuclear sites was the biggest ever attack by B-2 stealth bombers and the first time the US aggressively used ‘bunker buster bombs’.
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The US strike on Iranian nuclear sites — dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer” — was the biggest ever attack by B-2 stealth bombers, and the longest flight the aircraft have made since 2001.
It also marked the first time that the US used the massive, 15-ton GBU-57 bunker buster bombs in anger — and the US used 14 of them.
The highly co-ordinated strike took Tehran by utter surprise Saturday night, with the terrorist state not launching any attacks at incoming American military personnel, according to Chief of the Joint Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
“We are currently unaware of any shots fired at the US strike package on the way in,” he said during a press conference with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon Sunday. “ … We are unaware of any shots fired at the package on the way out.”
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission. We retained the element of surprise,” he added.
The 25-minute operation inside Iran began at 6:40pm Eastern US time (8:40am AEST), with a lead American B-2 bomber dropping two GBU-57 “bunker buster” munitions on the “first of several aim points at Fordow,” Gen. Caine said.
The 13,600kg weapon, also known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is designed to penetrate up to 60 metres underground before exploding.
“The remaining bombers then hit their targets, as well, with a total of 14 MOPs (Massive Ordnance Penetrators) dropped against two nuclear target areas,” he said.
“All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6:40pm and 7:05pm ET.”
The operation ended with a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles, fired from an American submarine, “to ensure we retain the element of surprise throughout the operation.”
Gen. Caine and Mr. Hegseth underscored the history-making nature of the strikes against Iran, noting that it was the first operational deployment of the GBU-57A/B MOP — the most powerful heavy-duty bunker buster bomb known to exist.
“It was historic, a strike that included the longest B-2 Spirit Bomber mission since 2001 and the first operational employment of the MOP, a massive ordinance penetrator,” Mr Hegseth said.
Gen. Caine also noted that Operation Midnight Hammer was the “second longest B-2 mission ever flown, “exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11.”
“The region, especially in Iraq, Syria and The Gulf, our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice,” Gen. Caine warned Iran.
INSIDE THE B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS
The B-2 stealth bombers used to attack the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant are equipped with toilets, microwaves and usually a cooler for snacks to make life more comfortable for the pilots who were stuck in the cockpit for the 37-hour trip from Missouri to Iran and back.
The fleet of advanced American bombers — originally designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union — took off from the Whiteman Air Force Base outside Kansas City on Friday for an 18 hour ride across the world, refuelling several times in mid-air, officials said.
For such long trips to be bearable, the high-tech bombers have their cockpits outfitted with mini refrigerators and a microwave oven to keep its crew fed an alert.
And just like any plane equipped for long-haul flights, the B-2 Spirit has a toilet, too.
There’s also enough room for one pilot to lay down and rest while the other flies the batwing jet.
The B-2 first entered service 1997 and each one costs more than US$2 billion; the US Air Force has a fleet of 19 — after losing one in a crash in 2008.
With a wingspan of 172 feet and a crew of just two pilots — the B-2 relies on automation to help complete long-haul flights.
The seven B-2 bombers deployed for operation “Midnight Hammer” flew in near complete radio silence, with their two-man crews taking turns to sleep during the tense night, The Telegraph reported.
The 37-hours spent to attack Fordow marked the longest B-2 bomber mission since the initial American assault on Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Pilots for these types of aircraft are trained to endure long, gruelling flights, with past crews bringing cots aboard or even full camping pads, according to The Atlantic.
The stealth bombers did not spend the entire mission alone. A fleet of fighter jets and support aircraft deployed to meet up with the B-2s as they approached Iran.
“The B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, tightly timed manoeuvre requiring exact synchronisation across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications,” General Daniel Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, touted in a statement.
This article first appeared in the New York Post
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