The Defense Department says seven B-2 bombers carrying 14 GPU-57A “Bunker Buster” deep penetration bombs were used to “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear program in a 30-hour sortie from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The operation began in the early hours of June 21 and the aircraft recovered June 22. CNN reported the beginning of the mass strike, a decoy operation that sent bombers and tankers west as far as Guam but the real strike, Operation Midnight Hammer, headed over the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
After 18 hours in the air, at about 6:10 EDT, the B-2s started dropping the 14 deep penetration bombs on three nuclear facilities in an attack that seemed to go undetected by Iranian defense forces. It appears the bombers flew continuously and were refueled in flight by tankers staged along the route. Last week various flight tracking sites reported a total of at least 39 air tankers and several groups of fighters were moved to bases in Europe They all had ADS-B turned on so their movements were public. In the end 31 tankers and an unknown number of fighters were used to carry out the attack.
It appears the element of surprise was achieved because there was no response from Iranian defense forces. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s “fighters did not fly” and its “surface-to-air missile systems did not see us.” New satellite imagery seems to back up administration claims that the Bunker Busters did their jobs. “Our initial assessment is … that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect,” Hegseth said. Although the B-2s were central to the operation, it involved a total of 125 aircraft and the use of 75 guided munitions, including 24 cruise missiles launched from a submarine.
Whiteman AFB is located near Knob Noster, MO. It’s just a few miles from Kansas City, but it’s definitely in Missouri.
From Russ
I hate it when I do that and I’m so grateful for sharp-eyed early readers of these stories so most of our readership never knows about some of the bone headed errors we make. Thanks Mark.
I wonder if the USAF weapon and mission costs totaled about $400 million? Was there a Mideast Quid pro quo?
Can get confusing with two KCs on the border, but yes Whiteman AFB is well into MO.
Perhaps the B-2s in the feint group had ADS-B turned on.
If F-35s accompanied the B-2s across Syria and Iraq they may have used IFF or other aid to formation flying though lights make more sense as radio silence is desired.
(Read that a flock of B-2s flew west from the US to Guam, and that B-2s have been stationed at Diego Garcia in recent past.
But the actual strike force snuck in from a different direction - eastward across the Atlantic through Syria and Iraq (whose skies are controlled by Israel and US.)
Well, Saudi Arabia and some small states should be very thankful though SA plays the fence publicly.
Qatar would not, as it supports Hamas thus Iran.
(Where did you get your $400 million notion from?)