The Pentagon revealed details Sunday regarding Operation Midnight Hammer, a large-scale mission targeting three key Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday. The operation is described as the “largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history.”

In his first public statement after the strikes, the Secretary of Defense told reporters that the mission’s “scope was intentionally limited,” while also noting the U.S. military’s “nearly unlimited” capabilities.

Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined the timeline and deceptive strategies used in the strikes against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities.

The operation began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday when B-2 stealth bombers took off from Missouri.

Some bombers headed west into the Pacific as a diversion, a “deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders,” according to Caine.

The main strike force, composed of seven B-2 Spirit bombers with two crew members each, flew east with limited communication on an 18-hour journey to the target area, Caine explained.

The aircraft were refueled several times mid-air. Upon reaching land, the strike group connected with escort and support aircraft from Central Command.

Caine described this rendezvous as “a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications.”

Around 5 p.m. ET (12:30 a.m. in Iran), a U.S. submarine launched over two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at key surface infrastructure targets as the main strike force approached.

Caine stated that additional deception tactics were employed, with support aircraft advancing ahead of the main strike group at high altitude and speed to identify enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile threats.

As the B-2 strike group neared Fordow and Natanz, support aircraft used high-speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage.

“We are currently unaware of any shots fired at the U.S. strike package on the way in,” Caine told reporters.

The Fordow nuclear facility was attacked around 6:40 p.m. EST, or approximately 2:10 a.m. in Iran.

The lead B-2 released two GBU 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) weapons, also known as bunker-busters, on the first of several targets at Fordow.

The remaining bombers also engaged their targets, with a total of 14 MOPs deployed on Fordow and Natanz, according to Caine.

The Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. submarines were the last to hit, striking their targets at Isfahan.

Following the strike, the aircraft left Iranian airspace and returned to Whiteman Air Force Base. Caine reported that the U.S. military was not immediately aware of any shots fired at the strike group as it exited Iranian airspace.

“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,” Caine said. “We retained the element of surprise.”

Operation Midnight Hammer involved over 125 aircraft, including seven B-2 stealth bombers, multiple fourth and fifth-generation fighters, numerous air refueling tankers, a guided-missile submarine, and “a full array” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, Caine stated.

U.S. forces launched around 75 precision-guided munitions, including 14 GBU 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, each weighing 30,000 pounds. Caine noted that the operation marked the first operational use of this weapon.

Caine described the operation as the “largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history,” adding that “no other military in the world could have done this.”

“This mission demonstrates the unmatched reach, coordination and capability of the United States military in just a matter of weeks,” Caine said. “This went from strategic planning to global execution.”

Caine also mentioned that this was the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown, surpassed only by missions conducted in the days after 9/11.

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