DECOY and deception were at the heart of Donald Trump’s tactical Operation Midnight Hammer strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites.
Through meticulous planning and artful bluff, the B-2 stealth bomber squadron glided in and out of Iran without ever being detected or fired upon by a single Iranian missile.
AFPA B-2 spirit bomber refuelling mid-air – as the Operation Midnight Hammer planes did[/caption]
GettyTrump threw the world off the scent with a series of bluffs[/caption]
ReutersSatellite pictures show the Fordow nuclear plant before and after the US strikes, on June 20 and June 22[/caption]
The US began spinning a web of deception at the start of the conflict which culminated in the “obliteration” of three of Iran’s nuclear plants, including the mountain fortress Fordow.
Trump’s public statements were expertly curated to keep the regime and the rest of the world guessing about whether the US would ever collaborate with Israel in strikes.
On Wednesday, the President maintained the smoke-and-mirrors act, telling reporters at a flagpole opening ceremony: “I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m gonna do.”
Then a day later, Trump played a masterstroke which saw the White House put out a “two-week” deadline for the US to make a decision about attacking Fordow.
This was under the guise of giving Iran another chance to return to negotiations.
At the time, it was widely interpreted as kicking the can down the road – with Trump being known to announce a two-week deadline for events that never materialise, such as in Ukraine war negotiations.
We now know that, as this was announced, Operation Midnight Hammer was in fact in its final planning stages.
Israel stuck to the script by feigning frustration and vowing to strike Fordow without any US support despite a plan always appearing to be in the works.
Government sources leaked to The Times of Israel that Netanyahu’s administration had a “tense” call with the White House expressing their concerns.
This too may have simply been a ruse to lull Iran into a false sense of security.
As the operation kicked off at midnight on Friday, the misdirection continued.
A decoy fleet of B-2s flew west over over the Pacific and towards Guam.
Their only purpose was to throw intelligence off the scent of the actual operative fleet – which at the same moment was gliding quietly east, bound for Iran.
Only “an extremely small number of planners and key leaders” knew the truth, US Air Force General Dan Caine said.
The strike group consisted of seven B-2 bombers each loaded with two of the 14-ton “bunker-buster” bombs.
ReutersA B-2 bomber returns to the Whiteman air base in Missouri after completing the mission[/caption]
GettyUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed details about the operation after it had completed[/caption]
The round trip was 37 hours, so an armada of more than 100 support aircraft was needed to help them refuel on the wing.
Strict instructions were issued to keep communications to a minimum to avoid detection.
Then at half past midnight Iranian time, a US submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles at the Isfahan nuclear site in east Iran.
An hour later, the bomber squadron entered Iranian airspace – still undetected, but in perilous enemy territory.
APTwo dozen tomahawk missiles were launched from US submarines during the air-and-sea operation[/caption]
GettyDamage in the Ramat Aviv neighbourhood of Tel Aviv after Iran hit back following the US strikes[/caption]
ReutersIranian missiles being intercepted over Israel the morning after Midnight Hammer[/caption]
More decoy and scout planes swooped out ahead of the main unit to distract any awaiting Iranian defence jets – but they encountered none.
The escort group stood ready to launch preemptive fire on any surface-to-air missiles or jets, but not a single shot was fired at the operatives.
The first bombs dropped at 2:10am Iranian time – the darkest hour of the night – and 25 minutes later it was all over.
Officials revealed that around 75 precision-guided weapons were unleashed in total, with 14 of the “bunker-busters” dropped on Fordow.
The B-2s were programmed to drop one bomb first, followed by another shortly afterwards onto the exact same impact site. point of impact.
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