What Is Operation Midnight Hammer? Inside The US Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

Under "Operation Midnight Hammer," the US launched a large-scale attack on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The operation involved over 125 aircraft, including B-2 bombers.

File image.

Source : ABP

The attack by United States on three nuclear sites of Iran were codenamed as Operation Midnight Hammer that involved over 125 aircraft and an operation that saw bombers deployed over the Pacific, said top US general on Sunday. The mission that began on midnight on Friday and into Saturday morning targeting three of the most critical nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, marking a sharp escalation in U.S. involvement in the ongoing regional conflict. 

According to the military officials, the operation included more than 125 aircraft and it involved a calculated deception manevuver including the deployment of bombers over the Pacific Ocean to divert the attention from the actual strike force.

“The main strike package comprised of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications throughout the 18-hour flight,” said General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a press briefing.

The General added that bombers were dropped more than a dozen of 30,000-pound (approx 13,608 kg) Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs on two Iranian nuclear facilities, Fordow and Natanz, and Tomahawk missiles were launched at Isfahan. 

The operation began at 6:40 p.m. ET and it concluded by 7:05 p.m. ET, with the US aircraft clearing the Iranian airspace without the incident.

According to Caine, the strikes by US included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than the two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. This is the first time that the United States is using this ammunition against Iran in the recent Middle East conflict.

"The main strike package comprised of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications throughout the 18-hour flight," Caine said as quoted by India Today.

Cain, explaining the how the B-2 bombers proceeded to their targets, said, "On Friday midnight into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental US. As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, a part of the package proceeded to the west and 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 said that a US submarine launched over two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets" at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran. The lead B-2 bomber launched missive bunker buster bombs at the Fordow nuclear site at 6.40 pm (ET). The addition targets, according to Caine, were struck between 6.40 pm and 7.05 pm (both ET).