Operation Midnight Hammer: How the US conducted surprise strikes on Iran – Breaking Defense

WASHINGTON
—
Hours
after
the
US
conducted
a
surprise,
significant
military
operation
against
three
Iranian
nuclear
sites,
top
defense
officials
unveiled
the
details
what
the
Pentagon
called
Operation
Midnight
Hammer,
which
involved

seven
B-2
bombers
and
the
first
known
operational
use
of
a

30,000-pound
bunker
buster
bomb.

“The
president
authorized
a
precision
operation
to
neutralize
the
threats
to
our
national
interests
posed
by
the
Iranian
nuclear
program
and
the
collective
self-defense
of
our
troops
and
our
ally,
Israel,”
Defense
Secretary
Pete
Hegseth
told
reporters
today.

While
Chairman
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
Gen.
Dan
Caine
said
a
battlefield
assessment
is
ongoing
to
evaluate
the
strikes,
Hegseth
called
it
“an
incredible
and
overwhelming
success.”

Caine,
a
newly
minted
four-star
general,
went
on
to
some
detail
just
how
that
US
carried
out
the
strike,
saying
it
involved
more
than
125
US
aircraft,
“dozens”
of
aerial
refueling
tankers,
a
guided
missile
submarine
and
firing
approximately
75
precision
guided
weapons.

Caine
explained
that
around
midnight
on
Friday
a
“strike
package”
with
seven
B-2
Spirit

bombers
departed

Whiteman
Air
Force
Base
in
Missouri,
flying
east
for
18
hours
with
“minimal
communications”
towards
the
“target
area.”

Once
those
aircraft
were
over
land
again,
they
“linked
up”
with
escort
and
support
aircraft
“in
a
complex,
tightly
timed
maneuver
requiring
exact
synchronization
across
multiple
platforms
in
a
narrow
piece
of
airspace,”
Caine
said.

By
Saturday
around
5
pm
ET,
just
before
the
strike
package
was
ready
to
enter
Iran,
a
US
submarine
located
inside
the
US
Central
Command
area
of
responsibility,
launched
more
than
two
dozen
Tomahawk
land-attack
cruise
missiles
against
“key”
surface
infrastructure
targets
at
the
Isfahan
site.

“As
the
Operation
Midnight
Hammer
strike
package
entered
Iranian
airspace,
the
US
employed
several
deception
tactics,
including
decoys,
as
the
fourth-
and
fifth-generation
aircraft
pushed
out
in
front
of
the
strike
package
at
high
altitude
and
high
speed,
sweeping
in
front
of
the
package
for
enemy
fighters
and
surface
to
air
missile
threats,”
Caine
explained.

FULL
COVERAGE:

As
the
strike
package
approached
Fordo
and
Natanz,
the
US
deployed
“high-speed
suppression
weapons”
to
allow
for
a
safer
approach
around
6:40
pm
ET.

The
lead
B-2
bomber
then
dropped
two
GBU
57
Massive
Ordnance
Penetrators
on
the
“first
of
several
aim
points
at
Fordo,”
Caine
said,
noting
that
in
total,
14
MOPs
were
dropped
in
target
areas
at
Fordo
and
Natanz.

Once
the
bombers
had
dropped
the
MOPs,
those
previously
launched
Tomahawk
missiles
struck
Isfahan,
he
added.

“Following
weapons
release,
the
Midnight
Hammer
strike
package
exited
Iranian
airspace,
and
the
package
began
its
return
home,”
Caine
said.

Caine
said
that
it
does
not
appear
the
US
jets
were
fired
upon
during
the
operation.
“Iran’s
fighters
did
not
fly,
and
it
appears
that
Iran’s
surface
to
air
missile
systems
did
not
see
us,”
he
said.

Hegseth
said
that
congressional
leadership
was
notified
of
the
operation
as
soon
as
American
planes
were
out
of
danger.
(On
X,
White
House
Press
Secretary
Karoline
Leavitt

said
the
White
House
made
“bipartisan
courtesy
calls”
to
congressional
leadership,
speaking
to
minority
leader
Sen.
Chuck
Schumer
“befor
the
strike,”
though
unable
to
reach
House
Democrat
leader
Rep.
Hakeem
Jeffries
until
after.)

As
for
the
effectiveness
of
the
strikes,
Caine
said
a
“final
battle
damage
will
take
some
time,
but
initial
battle
damage
assessments
indicate
that
all
three
sites
sustained
extremely
severe
damage
and
destruction.”

The
US,
a
backer
of
Israel,
is
the
only
known
country
with
the
ability
to
penetrate
Iran’s
nuclear
sites
deep
underground
and
to
do
so,
required
the
bombers
dropping
the
30,000-pound
MOP
for
the
first
time
in
an
operations
setting.

“This
is
a
plan
that
took
months
and
weeks
of
positioning
and
preparation
so
that
we
could
be
ready
when
the
President
of
the
United
States
called,”
Hegseth
said.
“It
took
a
great
deal
of
precision.
It
involved
misdirection
and
the
highest
of
operational
security.”

Now,
all
eyes
will
be
on
Tehran
and
how
the
Islamic
Republic
responds,
as
well
as
on
whether
the
US
conducts
further
action.

Hegseth
said
the
Midnight
Hammer
mission
“was
not,
has
not,
been
about
regime
change,
but
later
Sunday
President
Donald
Trump
posted
on
Truth
Social
that
if
the
“current
Iranian
Regime
is
unable
to
MAKE
IRAN
GREAT
AGAIN,
why
wouldn’t
there
be
a
Regime
change???
MIGA!!!”

UPDATED
6/22/2025
at
5:40pm
ET
to
include
Trump’s
comments
about
“regime
change”
in
Iran
and
White
House
comments
about
notifications
to
congressional
leadership.