Operation Midnight Hammer involved more than 125 aircraft, with B-2 bombers flying continuously for 37 hours and conducting multiple air-to-air refuellings. The operation, aimed at disrupting Iran’s nuclear programme, had been rehearsed extensively by both U.S. and Israeli forces over a period of decades.
Images from the strike, now declassified, reveal the bombers being readied under strict secrecy and a coordinated cover of diversionary flights heading in the opposite direction. It remains unclear whether the aircraft shown in the footage participated directly in the attack or were part of the deception strategy.
According to military officials, the diversion was designed to protect the mission’s secrecy amid concerns about public disclosures. One official, speaking anonymously to the New York Times, stated that President Trump was considered the “biggest threat to OPSEC [operational security]” due to the volume of social media posts he made.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that part of the mission included a ‘decoy’ flight towards the Pacific. While it is not confirmed how many B-2s were involved in the deception, aviation trackers noted a significant number of refuelling tankers en route to Guam.
Lucas Tomlinson of Fox News reported that two B-2s took part in the actual mission, but open-source analysts believe the number was between six and eight. The scale of the tanker support appears to support the higher estimate, though this too may have been part of the misdirection.
