U.S. Operation Midnight Hammer: 120 aircraft hit Iranian nuclear sites with 75 precision-guided munitions

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, revealed details of the missile and bomb strikes on Iran during a joint press briefing at the Pentagon, broadcast by the Associated Press.

The U.S. operation, aimed at completely destroying Iran’s efforts to enrich uranium and develop its own nuclear weapons, was named Midnight Hammer. It involved the use of 75 precision-guided munitions, including 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs — penetrating munitions — marking their first combat deployment.

More than 120 aircraft participated in the operation, including B-2 stealth strategic bombers that remained in Iranian airspace for 20 minutes.

“This was the largest B2 operational strike in U.S. history and the second longest B2 mission ever flown exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11,” General Caine stated.

According to him, Iran's military nuclear facilities sustained “extremely serious damage and destruction.”

The general emphasized that it is still too early to determine whether Iran managed to preserve any part of its nuclear production capabilities intact.

Hegseth also declared that Iran’s “nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.”

• Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is reportedly hiding in an underground bunker and has already designated successors in the event of his death from Israeli or American strikes.