Seven B-2 bombers that took off from an air base in Missouri early Saturday morning returned home just before noon on Sunday after conducting a bombing run over Iranian nuclear facilities.
The B-2 pilots touched back down at Whiteman Air Force Base after a roughly 36-hour flight to Iran and back. The mission, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, involved decoys and multiple in-flight refuelings for the strike team to get to Iran and back, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine explained at a Sunday press conference.
NEW VIDEO: B-2 bombers land back at Whiteman Air Force Base today in Knob Noster, Missouri, after about a 36-hour flight to strike targets in Iran.
Seven B-2s took off from Whiteman just after 12 a.m. on Saturday. The first bombers back landed just before 12 p.m. Sunday. pic.twitter.com/g7IbwWD6NH
— Matt Evans (@MattEvansKMBC) June 22, 2025
As the bombers crossed the Atlantic and resumed flight over land, a team of fighters joined to cover the bombers on their entry into Iranian airspace.
“As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the 4th and 5th generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface to air missile threats,” said Caine.
The bomber team appears to have entered Iranian airspace and reached their targets without alerting Iran’s military.
“As the strike package approached Fordo and Natanz, the US protection package employed high-speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package with fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian surface to air threats,” Caine continued. “We are currently unaware of any shots fired at the US strike package on the way in.”
The bomber struck targets at Fordo and Natanz beginning around 6:40 p.m. ET. Tomahawk missiles fired from a United States submarines hit Isfahan moments later. The entire attack took place within a 25-minute window between 6:40 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. ET.
“Following weapons release, the midnight hammer strike package exited Iranian airspace, and the package began its return home. We are unaware of any shots fired at the package on the way out. Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us. Throughout the mission, we retained the element of surprise,” Caine said.
Chairman Caine just laid out the PERFECT execution of Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER. pic.twitter.com/11NpibQhbi
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 22, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the strike team and others involved in the operation after its success.
“I want to recognize pilots who flew those bombers; who flew those fighters; who flew those refuelers: Warriors. I want to recognize the sailors, on those destroyers, in those subs. on those carriers: Warriors. All of them. I want to recognize our soldiers doing air defense, base defense, QRF: Warriors. All of them,” Hegseth said in a statement after the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “Every American involved in this operation performed flawlessly.”