Timeline from the image:
Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER Timeline:
- 21 June ~0001 EDT (Saturday): B-2s depart Whiteman AFB
- 21 June ~1700 EDT (Saturday): Dozens of tankers at multiple aerial refuel points
- 21 June ~1700 EDT (Saturday): B-2s join support package in CENTCOM
- 21 June ~1700 EDT (Saturday): Maritime launch
- 21 June ~1800 EDT (Saturday): Bombers and support package enter Iran
- 21 June ~1840–1900 EDT (Saturday): Time on target
- 21 June ~1930 EDT (Saturday): Bombers exit Iran
- 21 June (Saturday): Dozens of tankers at multiple aerial refuel points
- 22 June (Sunday): Bombers return to Whiteman AFB
“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] told the media.
After proceeding quietly and with minimal communication for 18 hours from the U.S. to the target area, the first of seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped two 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker buster” bombs at the Fordo site yesterday at approximately 6:40 p.m. EDT, Caine said.
The initial mission package also included several decoy aircraft that flew west over the Pacific Ocean as “a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and [Centcom headquarters],” Caine said.
At the time of publication this was an ongoing news event, but you can read and watch the Department of Defence’s briefing on the operation here.
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