How the US bombarded Iranian nuclear sites without detection

DUBAI United Arab Emirates AP It was an unprecedented attack years in the making with specific last-minute misdirection meant to give the operation a powerful element of surprise U S pilots dropped -pound bombs early Sunday on two key underground uranium enrichment plants in Iran delivering what American military leaders believe is a knockout blow to a nuclear initiative that Israel views as an existential threat and has been pummeling for more than a week American sailors bolstered the surprise mission by firing dozens of cruise missiles from a submarine toward at least one other site Dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer U S representatives say the plan was characterized by a precision strike that devastated the Iranian nuclear operation even as they acknowledged an assessment was ongoing For its part Iran denied that any crucial damage had been done and the Islamic Republic pledged to retaliate Taking off from the U S heartland B- stealth bombers delivered a total of pounds of explosives aided by an armada of refueling tankers and fighter jets certain of which launched their own weapons U S personnel revealed Iran neither detected the inbound fusillade nor mustered a shot at the stealthy American jets The operation relied on a series of deceptive tactics and decoys to maintain the secrecy U S executives noted hours after the attack which was preceded by nine days of Israeli attacks that debilitated Iran s military leadership and air defenses A decoy plan Even before the planes took off elements of misdirection were already in play After setting parts of the plan in motion Trump publicly informed Thursday that he d make a decision within two weeks on whether to strike Iran ostensibly to allow additional time for negotiations but in actuality masking the impending attack One group of B- stealth bombers traveled west from Missouri on Saturday as decoys drawing the attention of amateur plane spotters authorities officers and various media as they headed toward a U S air base in the Pacific At the same time seven other B- s carrying two bunker buster bombs apiece flew eastward keeping communications to a minimum so as not to draw any attention Air Force Gen Dan Caine the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported at Sunday s briefing that it was all part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise and that only an extremely small number of planners and key leaders knew about it in Washington and Florida where U S Central Command is based After hours of furtive flying that required aerial refueling the armed B- Spirit bombers each with two crew members arrived on time and without detection in the Eastern Mediterranean from where they launched their attack runs Before journeying into Iran the B- s were escorted by stealthy U S fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft A graphic distributed by the Pentagon displayed the flight course as passing over Lebanon Syria and Iraq It was unclear whether those countries were notified of the U S overflight in advance The greater part U S lawmakers were also kept in the dark with specific Republicans saying they were provided a brief heads-up by the White House before the strike Our B- s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth informed reporters Sunday A multifaceted attack About an hour before the B- s entered Iran Caine announced that a U S submarine in the region launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles against key targets including a site in Isfahan where uranium is prepared for enrichment As the U S bombers approached their targets they watched out for Iranian fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles but encountered none At p m in Washington and a m in Tehran the first B- bomber dropped its pair of GBU- massive ordnance penetrators on the deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant It was the first time these so-called bunker busters had ever been used in combat Each -pound bomb is designed to burrow into the ground before detonating a massive warhead The Fordo site received the bulk of the bombardment though a couple of the enormous bombs were also dropped on a uranium enrichment site at Natanz The U S bombs fell for about half an hour with cruise missiles fired from submarines being the last American weapons to hit their targets which included a third nuclear site at Isfahan Caine declared Both Iran and the U N nuclear watchdog revealed there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites A look at the numbers The mission included precision-guided weapons these included GBU- bunker buster bombs deployed by the seven B- Spirit stealth bombers and more than two-dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U S submarine aircraft including the B- bombers fighter jets and refueling planes A female pilot Hegseth noted Sunday that our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now But a U S official disclosed one woman was among those piloting the B- bombers The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the mission publicly A bit of history Caine explained the use of the bunker-buster bombs made the mission historic as did other elements This was the largest B- operational strike in U S history and the second longest B- mission ever flown exceeded only by those in the days following he communicated reporters Sunday