The operation that US launched on Iran after President Donald Trump ditched his two-week deadline was named Operation Midnight Hammer, the Pentagon introduced Sunday revealing the small print of the deliberate and precision assault in opposition to three Iranian nuclear services. It was a posh and high-risk mission carried out with distinctive talent and self-discipline by the joint power. The operation was designed to severely degrade Iran’s nuclear weapon infrastructure; it was deliberate and executed throughout a number of domains and theatres with coordination that displays US capability to undertaking energy globally, the Pentagon mentioned at a briefing. Operation Midnight Hammer was a extremely categorised mission with only a few individuals in Washington with data about it — its timing or nature, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Gen. Dan Caine mentioned.
Particulars of ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’
Particulars of ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’
- At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a big B-2 strike package deal comprising bombers launched from the continental United States as a part of a plan to keep up the tactical shock of the package deal, the Pentagon mentioned.
- A part of the package deal proceeded to the West and proceeded to the Pacific as decoy. This decoy operation was solely recognized to an especially small variety of planners and key leaders in Washington.
- The primary strike package deal comprised seven B-2 bombers, every with two crew members. This package deal proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communication.
- By way of the 18-hour flight into the goal space, the plane (predominant package deal) accomplished a number of in-flight refuelings.
- As soon as over the land, the B-2s linked up with escort and assist plane in a posh, tightly timed manoeuvre, requiring precise synchronisation throughout a number of platforms in a slim piece of airspace — all finished with minimal communication. The Pentagon mentioned that the sort of integration is what US Joint Drive is understood for on the planet.
- At 5pm (EST), simply earlier than the strike package deal entered Iran, a US submarine within the Central Command space of accountability launched greater than two dozen Tomahawk land assault cruise missiles in opposition to key floor infrastructure targets at Isfahan.
- When the strike package deal entered the Iranian airspace, the US employed a number of deception techniques, together with decoys because the 4th- and Fifth-Era plane pushed out in entrance of the strike package deal in excessive altitude and excessive velocity, sweeping in entrance of the package deal.
- Then the strike package deal approached Fordow and Natanz, the US safety package deal employed high-speed suppression weapons to make sure secure passage of the strike package deal with fighter belongings using pre-emptive suppressing fires in opposition to any potential Iranian surface-to-air threats. Pentagon mentioned it’s not conscious of any photographs fired on the US strike package deal on the best way in.
- At 6.40 pm (EST), the lead B-2 bombers dropped two GBU-57 on the primary of a number of aimpoints at Fordow.
- All three Iranian infrastructure targets had been struck between 6.40 PM and seven.05 PM (EST). The Tomahawk missiles had been the final to strike at Isfahan, because the Pentagon described them because the shock factor of the assault. After the weapon launch, the Midnight Hammer Strike package deal exited Iranian airspace and commenced returning house. Pentagon mentioned it was not conscious of any photographs fired at them through the exit.