The U.S. Air Force has revealed new details regarding its first offensive operation against Iranian targets, Operation Midnight Hammer, which in the late hours of June 21 saw seven B-2 Spirit intercontinental range stealth bombers used to target the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities.
B-2s took of from Whiteman Air Force Base with a flight plan that indicated Guam was their destination, fuelling speculation that the aircraft were intended to be forward deployed to be able to generation sorties against Iranian targets more quickly.
This ruse appears to have been intended to reduce the possibility of Iran preparing its defences to intercept the targets.
Elaborating on the operation, and the support which the B-2s received from other American assets, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine reported: “As the Operation Midnight Hammer Strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. 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.”
