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(NewsNation) — A retired Air Force wide who commanded the archetypal B-2 stealth squadron described Saturday night's bombing of Iranian atomic facilities arsenic "remarkable" successful scale, scope and precision, marking the largest B-2 onslaught ngo successful the aircraft's history.
Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Newton said 7 B-2 bombers successfully penetrated Iranian airspace undetected, struck their targets astatine Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities, and exited without a azygous changeable being fired astatine them.
"The craft really ingressed into the people and struck the targets astatine Natanz and besides astatine Fordow and past exited Iranian airspace without immoderate detection astatine all, without a azygous changeable fired," Newton said Sunday morning. "This is remarkable. It's besides the largest B2 onslaught sortie ever."
As "Operation Midnight Hammer” got underway connected Saturday, a radical of B-2 bombers took disconnected from their basal successful Missouri and were noticed heading retired toward the Pacific land of Guam, successful what experts saw arsenic imaginable pre-positioning for immoderate U.S. determination to onslaught Iran. However, those were a decoy and a radical of 7 others flew undetected into Iranian airspace. A Pentagon-provided representation shown beneath details the formation way of the bombers that yet completed their ngo without immoderate returning fire.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JUNE 22: An operational timeline of a onslaught connected Iran is displayed pursuing a quality league with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth astatine the Pentagon connected June 22, 2025 successful Arlington, Virginia. U.S. President Donald Trump gave an code to the federation past nighttime aft 3 Iranian atomic facilities were struck by the U.S. military. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)The ngo marked the archetypal combat usage of the GBU-57 bunker-buster bomb, a 30,000-pound limb designed to penetrate heavy fortified underground facilities. Fourteen of the monolithic bombs were deployed during the operation, per the general.
The B-2 bombers launched from Whiteman Air Force Base successful cardinal Missouri and required aggregate aerial refuelings to scope targets much than 6,000 miles away. The craft took disconnected with minimal substance loads owed to the value of their ordnance, past met KC-135 tanker craft to refuel to maximum capacity, according to the general
The analyzable onslaught bundle included quality and surveillance aircraft, Navy F-18 fighters providing physics warfare support, and Air Force and Navy fighters conducting suppression of force aerial defenses earlier the B-2s entered Iranian airspace, the wide said.
Newton emphasized the operation's complexity, noting that Iranian airspace implicit the atomic facilities is "very choky airspace, highly controlled," making the palmy penetration peculiarly challenging.
The retired wide credited Israeli subject operations implicit the past 10 days with creating the strategical accidental for the U.S. mission. Israel's ongoing aerial run helped supply conditions that enabled American forces to run efficaciously successful the region.
"We person a inclination successful the U.S. subject to marque this look easy, but it's precise complex," Newton said. "The readying and the execution of this was conscionable exquisite."
