Inside Operation Midnight Hammer: B-2 commander reveals how US pulled off surprise strikes on Iran

Knob Noster, Missouri – Details of the longest massive B-2 B-2 bombing mission only took the spotlight as Fox News Digital gained rare Whiteman visits Air Force Base The commander leading the Midnight Operation hit Iran.

In an interview with the base, Colonel Josh Wiitala and his crew described how 4,000 men sent seven stealth bombers to Iranian airspace during a 30-hour mission, the first time the United States used a 30,000-pound mass invader in combat. They called the raid a flawless performance and provided a vivid account of the pressure, training and coordination needed to pull away the required.

“Our observational culture is low – everyone is secretly performing missions,” Vitala told Fox News digital numbers. June strike. “It was the entire team who worked together and used years of practice.”

Although thousands of people supported the mission through maintenance, ammunition, operations and medical personnel, 14 of the “dozens” pilots trained on the B-2 stealth bomber ended up heading to enemy territory, laying down the 30,000-pound GBU-57’s huge ordnance penetrator (MOP) at an Iranian nuclear site.

Experts measure the success of our “Bunker Buster” bombs discarded on Iran’s nuclear website

Wiitala said when deciding who to go, he prioritized the experience over everything else. “This team flew the red flag after the red flag, and it was doing the big sports after the big sports,” he said. “I looked at the staff’s preparation and I was just thinking about how much repetition they had and how long they trained for it. It was a very experienced crew.”

The Colonel would not discuss notifications such as crew members, whether electronic warfare or other countermeasures were used, or why the Command believed the bomb hit its intended target. These details are still classified, allowing outsiders to rely on satellite imagery and independent evaluation for verification.

Vitala said the selected team was “fired” to carry out the mission. “What I told them was, ‘I think this will be remembered as one of the most important raids in our lives.’ They absolutely understand the historicity of the mission. ”

According to Wiitala, the pilots returned home from a 30-hour mission “completely exhausted”, the longest mission to carry out a mass bombing attack with seven planes. Each aircraft has two pilots who take turns to rest for 45 minutes at a time, especially between complex aerial refueling. Some energy drink boxes on board to stay alert.

The longest combat mission for any aircraft is 44.3 hours, when pilots attacked Al Qaeda and the Taliban targets after the September 11, 2001 attack. The break includes attempts to level a small piece of metal floor behind the pilot’s seat.

Operation Midnight Hammer: Historic B-2 Bomber Mission Flying from Missouri to Attack Iran’s Nuclear Site

According to Wiitala, air refueling is the hardest stick and rudder we have ever done, manually flying. “The process involves aligning 10 feet below the position of the KC-135, KC-10 or KC-46 tanker, on which the hose and nozzle at the bottom of the plane are connected to the fuel opening at the top of the B-2. The B-2 must be parallel to the KC tanker for 15–30 minutes to withstand fuel loads of up to 167,000 pounds.

Wiitala said the “biggest moment” of his 22-year career with the Air Force was when the pilots were safely back to their original state. When I know the staff are safe, when I know they are in friendly airspace and are safe. This is the biggest thing for me. In terms of mission success, these are 14 weapons. Again, this is a sign of ruthlessness. So I’m incredible for how they perform, and incredibly they are very proud of the overall 4,000 experts here, which are hundreds of our experts and provide support and work to the task.

The B-2 is the only long-range stealth aircraft that can carry 30,000 pounds of bunker bombs. But the $2 billion aircraft is aging: 20 of them have been in operation for nearly 30 years. Combined with rapidly developing air defense capabilities – drone swarms, long-range ground-up missiles and sensors – the B-2 was built for early aerial combat.

“We are constantly evolving how to use aircraft,” Vitala said. “It’s still a very effective aircraft, but the B-21 is the next step.”

The B-21 is expected to be more cost-effective, with $1 billion per aircraft, and the Air Force plans to purchase 175-200 of them.

The mop is stored on the base with 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs. They can be temporarily notified and available. According to the Chief Master, the weapon loader trained for 21 days to maintain and load a 30,000-pound bomb that locked it inside the aircraft’s body at two steel contact points. Frank Espinoza, Wing Weapons Manager, 509th Maintenance Team.

Those who handle weapons train each month to load ordnance for flight missions. When dropped, the weapon penetrates deep into the ground before it explodes. Iran’s underground bunker is the first combat target for weapons.

15 years of testing and multiple iterations resulted in a combat version of the mop. Espinoza said the final version has been tested “for several years”.

The bomb was thrown on targets at two Iranian nuclear facilities: 12 mops were thrown at the Fuduo uranium enrichment plant and buried below 300 feet of rock, while two were on the Natanz nuclear facility. Israeli air strikes eliminate Iran’s defense capabilities, creating a mature opportunity for U.S. bombers to enter Iranian airspace at relatively low risk.

The latest assessment by nuclear weapons expert David Albright and a team of researchers analyzed data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and found that Iran has no pathway to produce weapon-grade uranium on any of its known central plants for the first time in 15 years after the U.S. strike. ”

“Military attacks destroy or make all installed centrifuges (nearly 22,000 natural gas centrifuges) installed in Iran destroy or do not work at three enrichment sites in Iran,” the analysis said. But the researchers noted that it is unclear how long it will take for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country may not have used other centrifuges and was not destroyed during the strike.

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President Donald Trump Immediately announced that Iran’s nuclear program was “completely and completely eliminated”, despite caution against skeptics and opponents of the strike to announce a successful announcement before the final damage assessment is completed.

Although Iran stopped cooperating with nuclear authorities due to the strike, retaliation against U.S. military personnel was acquiesced. Tehran launched a strike against U.S. air bases in Qatar, but notified both sides in advance. No one was injured in the counterattack.