US launched Operation Midnight Hammer to hit the Iranian Nuclear site
Defence
5 min read
The United States of America launched Operation Midnight Hammer on 22 June 2025 to bomb three Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The United States military used its B-2 strategic bomber and dropped GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) or bunker buster bombs on the nuclear sites.
This marks the entry of the United States in the war between Israel and Iran, which started with Israel attacking the nuclear and military site on 13 June under the code name “Operation Rising Lion”.
Iran, which is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has been accused by Israel of building a nuclear weapon.
About the US Bombing of the Iranian N-site
Seven American B-2 Spirit strategic bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, United States, and flew about 18 hours to reach Iran. To reach the Iranian airspace, the American Air Force tankers refuelled the plane mid-air.
When the B-2 bomber reached the Iranian airspace, an American submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles against infrastructure targets at the Isfahan site.
The Bombers dropped the bunker buster bomb on the Fordow and Natanz sites.
About the B-2 Spirit Bomber
Only three countries possess strategic bombers: the United States of America, Russia and China.
The B-2 Spirit is the most expensive military aircraft in the world, with each piece costing $2.21 billion.
Only 21 such planes have been built by the Northrop Grumman Corporation of the United States of America.
The plane is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons.
Its stealth capability allows it to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defences and threaten its most valued and heavily defended targets.
According to the US Air Force, the B-2's range is about 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometres). With aerial refuelling, the bomber can reach virtually any target worldwide.
B-2 bombers are the only aircraft capable of carrying the GBU-57/B bomb to destroy Iran's most protected Fordow nuclear facility, built deep into a mountain.
Each B-2 bomber can carry two GBU-57/B bombs.
About the GBU-57/B or bunker-buster bomb?
The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb on earth.
It was first used in Iran.
The GBU stands for “guided bomb unit” (a precision bomb that can home in on its target), and it’s the 57th design in the series of such bombs.
The bomb has been designed to destroy enemies weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities.
The bomb, which weighs more than 13 tonnes, is six meters high and is capable of penetrating through 200 feet of concrete or bedrock.
Iran's Fordow facility is believed to be deep beneath a mountain, under 260 to 300 feet of reinforced concrete rock surrounded by a ring of air-defence batteries.
Israel does not have the capability to destroy the Fordow facility.
Also Read: Israel Launches Operation Rising Lion to Hit Iran's Nuclear Site
