For those of you who need a tick tock of the bombing runs, now officially known to the rest of us as "Operation Midnight Hammer," this is for you. This timeline includes the feints and assets used. It contains foundational videos and photos about the assets using the timeline established by Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine along with additional details learned since the operation wrapped.
Let's go.
'Months and Weeks'
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the operation “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation,” with General Caine further stating that “in a matter of weeks this went from strategic planning to global execution.”
In the days before the strike, the USS Nimitz battle group was positioned as the third carrier strike group put in theater as an apparent back up. It arrived on June 20, right before the fireworks got started. The Nimitz joined the USS Carl Vinson and USS Gerald Ford.
Aircraft carriers are mini-cities with crews of more than 5,000 personnel, a full complement of aircraft, and other assets.
Last week on June 15 and 16, air tankers were prepositioned to Germany, Spain, and the Azores to refuel the bombers on their way to Iran.
June 21, 2025 (Midnight, 001 ET, Saturday)
"[At] midnight Friday into Saturday morning a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States," Caine divulged.
What's a "Strike Package"?
This strike package included 125 air assets of all kinds. Let's take a look at them.
Seven B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers
General Caine told reporters that the "strike package comprised seven B-2 Spirit bombers each with two crew....and other 4th and 5th Generation Aircraft that worked with the bombers."
The B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. They began the "18-hour" journey at midnight.
Here's a close look at this stealth craft.
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B-2 Feint West to Guam
B-2s moved toward Guam.
Two flights of B-2 Spirits, callsigns MYTEE 11 flight and MYTEE 21 flight, each comprising four aircraft, departed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, in the early hours of Jun. 21, 2025. Their destination was confirmed as Andersen Air Force Base, located on the Pacific island of Guam.
The decoy B-2s were supported by KC-46 air tankers from Travis Air Force Base (where my Dad was a wrench turner back in the day).
NITRO KC135s returning to Altus AFB, OK
— Aircraft Spots (@AircraftSpots) June 21, 2025
B2s MYTEE11 FLT & MYTEE21 FLT continuing westbound to destination Andersen AFB, Guam. pic.twitter.com/VrZwURIjRC
Just Some Guy in Missouri Sees B-2s 'Heading East'
Seems possible if not probable that while every open-source reporter in the world was watching very public and eventually government-confirmed B-2 flights westward, a guy in his backyard in Missouri saw the real, undisclosed and untracked mission heading east https://t.co/fFd2pkRSyk
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) June 22, 2025
Ten F-22A Stealth Fighters
When the seven B-2s made Iranian airspace over land, they were joined by ten F-22A Raptor stealth fighters.
Check out that refueling portion of this short video.
Some of the F-22s, along with other fighter jets (see below), were used to decoy Iranian radar and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Caine says Iran launched no planes and no shots were fired at the U.S. strike force.
Twelve F-35 Lightning IIs
Lots of people don't like the F-35s but 12 were moved into the theater "in the days leading up to the strike." We're still learning if they played an active role in the operation or were pre-positioned for back-up or part of a feint.
Related: Trump's Audacious Deception, Tight OpSec, Shocking Stealth in Lead-Up to Hit on Iran's Nuke Sites
Twelve F-16 Fighting Falcons
F-16 Fighting Falcons: Twelve F-16s were newly deployed, supplementing additional F-16s and F-15E Strike Eagles already present in the area2.
Here are some beauty shots of what is arguably the best fighter jet in the U.S. military.
Thirty K-135 Refueling Tankers
The unsung heroes of the operation, K-135 tankers, were positioned at multiple spots along the route to Iran. Most of these tankers were positioned at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Morón Air Base and NAS Rota in Spain, and Lajes Air Base in the Azores, according to The Aviationist.
If you've never seen a mid-air refueling, then this is the one to see. The seven U.S. B-2s had to do this in flight, refueling multiple times during their nighttime flight to Iran. Watch only if you love a thrill or have ice water in your veins. This is gutsy.
Some radio traffic of the B-2s calling control after leaving Iran:
Seven B-2s calling SEVILLE CONTROL on VHF over the Straight of Gibraltar on their way back from Iran this morning after refueling over the Mediterranean Sea.
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) June 22, 2025
BATT 11 flt (x4 B-2) - advises ATC destination Barksdale AFB
BATT 21 flt (x3 B-2) pic.twitter.com/XYNAyPRXQG
F-15 Strike Eagles
These craft were reported seen in the area of operation outfitted with these rocket launchers
Here's a great treatment of this jet from one of the fastest and best military story-tellers on YouTube, The Fat Electrician, who calls the F-15 "the most gangster" craft of all time.
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USS Carl Vinson Carrier Air Wing?
This isn't confirmed; however, the Vinson was already on station during a routine transit to the Arabian Sea (as we're officially calling the Persian Gulf these days). The Aviationist reports that some details of the operation point to the aircraft carrier's air wing as having played a pivotal role.
The Aviationist explains that the use of High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) suggests the delivery systems were likely F-16Cs—specifically Shaw’s Block 50s, which specialize in the SEAD role and are currently deployed to the CENTCOM AOR—and the EA-18Gs from the USS Vinson.
AWACS/AEW&C Radar Overwatch
Electronic jamming EA-18G Growler
Ohio Class Guided Missile Submarine
The big bad boomer was secretly on station and launched 30 Tomahawk missiles at the Isfahan nuclear site, while the other two sites, Fordow and Natanz, were drilled by 14 GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOPs)—bunker buster—bombs from the B-2 bombers. Day-um. It's the first time that bunker buster ordnance was used in combat.
General Caine said, "once over land, the B2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace all done with minimal communications."
Pentagon Timeline
The Pentagon's official timeline based on eastern daylight time continues the story:
Pentagon's timeline for #Iran attack pic.twitter.com/ZSpHisvalu
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room, FITF Squad (@VictoriaTaft) June 22, 2025
17:00 EDT
The Ohio class submarine opens fire on Isfahan, firing 24-30 Tomahawk missiles on the nuclear site.
That's enough of a diversion to give some cover to the B-2 bombers and fighter jets coming on station over Natanz.
Approx. 18:00 EDT
The bombers and jets enter Iran.
18:40-19:00 EDT "Time on Target"
Shots fired. Twelve bunker busters dropped on
Sunday
B-2s are back at Whiteman Air Force Base.
Before and After Photos.
New Images via 📷@Maxar
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) June 22, 2025
High-resolution satellite imagery collected this morning June 22nd after Operation Midnight Hammer reveals aftermath of airstrikes on the Fordow fuel enrichment facility.
Note: The sequences begins "Before Overview" then "After Overview" including… pic.twitter.com/mjk3kTsG3E
General Caine summed up the operation like this:
Throughout the mission we retained the element of surprise in total US forces, employed approximately 75 precision guided weapons during this operation, launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Esvahan.
As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace the U.S. employed several deception tactics including decoys as the Fourth and Fifth 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.
The strike package was supported by US Strategic Command US Transportation, Command US Cyber Command, US Space, Command US Space Force, and US European Command, as the strike package approached for 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.
The general said Iran never launched a plane or fired a shot, thanks to the softening of the targets by the Israeli bombing sorties taking out Iran's air power.
It was the first time they put bunker busters to use in an official operation.
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