Trump's deception game, 420000 pounds of GBU-57 bunker busters, 3 nuclear sites dusted: How Iran buckled under US firepower
The Israel-Iran ceasefire seems to be a done deal with US President
Donald Trump
once again claiming to have played a pivotal role in it. The ceasefire announcement by Trump came just hours after US forces "obliterated" Iran's three main nuclear facilities in
Fordow
,
Natanz
and
Isfahan
, an operation which according to the American military leadership was a masterclass in deception.
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran June 13, targeting its military and nuclear bases. Even as its top generals and nuclear scientists were eliminated by Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) precision strikes, Iran did not backoff and instead rained missiles and drones on its western adversary. The two sides then indulged in a tit-for-tat response. As the conflict rages on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded the US to join the war after his forces failed to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, especially the one in Fordow.
President Trump dilly-dallied for a few days and then
gave the go ahead to the
US Air Force
and Navy to take out Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Fordow was marked for special treatment as it was buried several meters under the mountain and only the US possessed the firepower to blast a target hidden so deep.
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Trump claims ceasefire between Israel and Iran, ending 12-day war
While Israel and Iran were involved in a bruising match, Trump and his advisors played out a massive deception game to keep everyone in the dark. As reports of Israel running low on missile interceptors came out with Iranian projectiles routinely punching holes in Jerusalem's multi-layered air defenses, Trump and US military laid bare an elaborate plan to force the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to lay down its arms.
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Trump plays a deception game
Over 7000 miles away from Tehran, at the US Whiteman Air Force Base base in Missouri, the massive B-2 Spirit bombers were being armed with GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker busters. Their mission, named Operation Midnight Hammer, a closely guarded secret.
As the US military was readying its strike package, Trump made a big statement after Iran threatened to target American bases in the Middle East and refused to back down in the face of constant Israeli bombings. The US President on June 20 announced
his intention to take a decision on striking Iran within two weeks. Meanwhile, his military was gearing up to deliver a decapitating blow to Iran.
Trump's statement sent the Iranian government a message that US was not yet keen to join Israel's offensive mission.
Also Read:
B-2 bombers flew 37 hours non-stop, covered over 7000 miles: US outsmarted Iran's Russian air defense missiles to strike its nuclear sites
Yet, hours later on June 21, several B-2 bombers took off from the Whiteman Air Force Base base. Armed with bunker busters, seven moved towards the east while between two to four flew west. The bombers flying east maintained total silence and were not tracked but the ones moving westwards towards the US air base in Guam were widely publicised.
The deception plan was well and truly in play.
News websites, channels and social media was filled with information about the B-2s being moved to Guam. There were speculations that the bombers would eventually move to the US air base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for their mission against Iran.
But another group of seven B-2s were flying over the Atlantic, their over 18-hour long journey to Iran made possible by multiple refueling by tankers of US Central Command. Obscured from coverage, this was the strike package that would deliver what Trump wanted - obliterating Iran's nuclear sites.
Each B-2 tasked with hitting Iran was carrying two GBU-57s, a combined weight of 60,000 pounds (28,000 kilograms), each. Operation Midnight Hammer was the first ever use of the GBU-57s in a combat.
US B-2 bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites
Eighteen hours after taking off from the Missouri airbase, the B-2 were over the Mediterranean Sea, within sniffing distance of their targets. They were joined by F-22 Raptors, F-35 Lightning II US stealth fighters, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18 Hornets and several reconnaissance aircraft.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Indian Ocean, US submarines launched 30 Tomahawks at Iran's Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites whereas Fordow was destined to face the full fury of the bunker busters.
Also Read:
Khamenei posted 'Iran Does Not Surrender' before Trump announced Iran-Israel ceasefire
The entire strike package remained out of Iran's sight, its air defense caught napping. Neither were Iran's fighters scrambled, not its surface-to-air missile batteries activated. Perhaps a sign that Israel's precision strikes had indeed neutered Iran's air defenses.
An hour later at 6:40 pm. (EDT) June 21 (10:40 pm GMT) and 2:10 am June 22 in Iran, the first of six B-2s opened its bomb door to drop a 30,000 pounder GBU-57 on Fordow. This was followed by 11 other bunker busters while two found their mark in Natanz, dropped from the seventh B-2. The six holes in Fordow and one in Natanz a testimony to the bunker busters drilling through the earth to find their mark.
So precise were the strikes that two bunker busters each passed through a single hole in Fordow and the same was repeated in Natanz. The bombing runs continued for 30 minutes and a few moments later, the Tomahawks too landed on Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites.
With their mission complete, the B-2 turned west to fly back to their base, a journey that would take another 18 hours.
US military leadership later on June 22 announced 125 military aircraft were involved in the entire mission. The B-2s dropped 14 GBU-57s, their subs launched 30 Tomahawk missiles and 31 other precision-guided weapons, the details of which were not released.
While US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared 'our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now", a report by the Associated Press quoting a US military official claimed that one of the B-2 pilots was a woman.
Also Read:
Israel-Iran ceasefire new addition to Trump's many peacemaker claims; some found to be false
Iran's facile response and the ceasefire
More than 40 hours later, Iran responded to the US bombings by launching missiles at American airbases in Qatar and Iraq. US officials said Tehran had already informed them and Qatar of the impending attacks and there was minimal damage with no casualties as the missiles were tackled by air defense systems.
After the missiles were stopped and the world anticipated another round of US strikes, Trump sprang a surprise yet again. He took to Truth Social to announce the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
While Iran initially denied the ceasefire and fired some missiles towards Israel, which too responded by sending in its fighters, the two sides seemed to agree that the time for the conflict is over.
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