E-Paper
How US used a decoy to fool Iran ahead of strikes on nuclear sites
Dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' the strike was the largest ever B-2 stealth bomber operation in US history and came together under a veil of secrecy.
A lot of planning, courage and a veil of secrecy were key to US' attack on key nuclear sites in Iran, officials have revealed. On Saturday night, people noticed a group of B-2 bombers take off from their case in Missouri, a move that experts thought was aimed at striking Iran. But the jets were a decoy.
The real group of seven bat-winged, B-2 stealth bombers flew east undetected for 18 hours, keeping communications to a minimum, refueling in mid-air, the US military revealed on Sunday.
How US carried out the strike against Iran
Dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' the strike was the largest ever B-2 stealth bomber operation in US history and came together under a veil of secrecy that caught Iran entirely off guard, Pentagon officials revealed on Sunday.
The attack began late Saturday, when a visible group of B-2 bombers was seen taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri - an intentional misdirection. While military analysts and observers believed these aircraft were headed toward Iran, they were a decoy.
In reality, seven B-2 bombers flew undetected on an 18-hour flight eastward, maintaining radio silence and refuelling mid-air before nearing Iranian airspace. As they approached their targets, a US submarine launched over two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles, and American fighter jets flew ahead as decoys, sweeping the skies for Iranian aircraft or missile activity.
When the B-2s reached their targets, they dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators - bunker-busting bombs weighing 30,000 pounds each - on Iran’s three principal nuclear sites. In total, over 125 US military aircraft were involved in the operation, according to the Pentagon.
“This was the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by our response after 9/11,” said General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a press briefing. “Iran’s fighters never took off. Their missile systems never saw us. We retained the element of surprise.”
Initial damage assessments, Caine said, indicate “extremely severe damage and destruction” at all three targeted sites, though he declined to comment on whether Iran’s nuclear program had been completely dismantled.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was more direct: “It was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program.”
