U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has renewed attention on the U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, describing its role in the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities as an example of American long-range military power.
Speaking during a Pentagon press conference on November 10, 2026, Hegseth revisited Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military operation that used B-2 bombers to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure at Fordow and Natanz, alongside submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles targeting facilities at Isfahan.
Hegseth described the operation as the largest and most successful B-2 strike in American history. His comments emphasized the ability of U.S. forces to launch strategic air operations from the continental United States and reach heavily protected targets thousands of miles away.
The remarks were a retrospective assessment of the 2025 operation, rather than an announcement of a new B-2 strike.
Operation Midnight Hammer: How the B-2 Force Reached Iran
Operation Midnight Hammer took place on June 21-22, 2025, when U.S. forces conducted coordinated strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
According to the Department of Defense briefing delivered by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine on June 22, seven B-2 Spirit bombers departed from the continental United States as part of the main strike package.
The aircraft flew east toward Iran, completing multiple aerial refueling operations during an approximately 18-hour flight to the target area.
The operation also incorporated deception measures. A separate group of aircraft flew west toward the Pacific as a decoy, while the main bomber formation maintained minimal communications during its approach.
U.S. fighter aircraft and other supporting platforms helped coordinate the mission and manage potential threats from Iranian air defenses.
The Pentagon described the operation as a large joint-force effort involving more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including tankers, fighter aircraft, intelligence and surveillance platforms, and a guided-missile submarine.
This support was essential. The mission demonstrated not simply the range of an individual bomber, but the ability of the United States to coordinate a complex strike package across substantial geographic distances.
GBU-57 Penetrating Bombs Were Central to the Mission
The B-2 Spirit’s primary contribution to Operation Midnight Hammer was the delivery of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).
Developed for attacks against deeply buried and hardened facilities, the GBU-57 is a precision-guided weapon weighing approximately 30,000 pounds.
The Pentagon confirmed that U.S. forces employed 14 GBU-57 bombs during the operation, marking the weapon’s first operational combat employment.
The bombs were directed against the underground nuclear infrastructure at Fordow and Natanz.
Isfahan was targeted separately using more than two dozen Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles launched from a U.S. Navy submarine.
This distinction is important when assessing the operation. Although all three facilities were targeted during the same mission, the B-2 bombers and the submarine employed different weapons against different target sets.
The GBU-57 gave U.S. commanders an option for attacking hardened underground infrastructure that conventional air-delivered weapons might not penetrate effectively.
However, the actual extent of damage beneath the Iranian facilities remains a separate assessment issue from the number of weapons delivered.
Why the B-2 Remains Important to U.S. Military Strategy
The B-2 Spirit occupies a specialized position in the U.S. strategic bomber fleet.
Its flying-wing design, low-observable characteristics and ability to carry substantial conventional or nuclear payloads make it suitable for missions against targets protected by advanced air defense systems.
Unlike conventional bombers that may depend heavily on stand-off weapons, the B-2 can carry weapons designed for direct delivery against selected hardened targets.
Its operational value therefore extends beyond the aircraft’s ability to travel long distances.
The combination of stealth, weapons integration, aerial refueling and intelligence support gives the U.S. military an option for striking strategically important targets without relying entirely on forward-based tactical aircraft.
Nevertheless, stealth does not make the aircraft invulnerable. Its effectiveness depends on mission planning, intelligence quality, electronic support, airspace conditions and the capabilities of opposing air defenses.
Operation Midnight Hammer demonstrated how these elements could be coordinated in a single large-scale mission.
Hegseth Connects Midnight Hammer to the Wider Iran Campaign
During his November 10 remarks, Hegseth also referred to Operation Epic Fury, the subsequent U.S. military campaign against Iran in 2026.
He presented Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury as separate operations within the administration’s broader military approach toward Iran.
The distinction matters because the two operations involved different objectives and operational circumstances.
Midnight Hammer focused on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, using B-2 bombers and GBU-57 penetrating weapons alongside submarine-launched cruise missiles.
Epic Fury involved a much wider campaign against Iranian military capabilities, including command infrastructure, air defenses, missile systems and other military targets.
Hegseth described both operations as successful, but his statements about the overall destruction of Iranian military and nuclear capabilities should be treated as official U.S. assessments rather than independently established measurements of every target’s condition.
The secretary also said the United States would continue monitoring Iranian nuclear facilities and retain the ability to respond if developments warranted further military action.
Long-Range Strike Power Depends on More Than the Bomber
The B-2 mission against Iran provides an important example of the United States’ ability to conduct long-range conventional air operations.
However, the operation should not be understood as an isolated demonstration of bomber performance.
Its execution depended on an extensive network of supporting capabilities, including aerial refueling, intelligence collection, fighter support, mission coordination and precision-guided weapons.
These requirements have implications for any country seeking to develop comparable long-range strike capabilities.
An aircraft may have substantial range and advanced low-observable characteristics, but conducting a complex mission against defended targets also requires trained personnel, reliable logistics, weapons integration and access to supporting infrastructure.
For the U.S. Air Force, the operation demonstrated the continued importance of maintaining a bomber force capable of reaching distant targets without depending exclusively on overseas bases.
It also illustrated why the B-2 remains relevant as the United States prepares for the introduction of its next-generation B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
The B-21 is intended to provide a future component of the U.S. long-range strike force, while the B-2 continues to perform missions requiring its existing stealth and penetrating-strike capabilities.
Hegseth’s latest comments reinforce the administration’s assessment of Midnight Hammer as a major demonstration of American airpower. The operational record provides a more specific measure of that achievement: seven B-2 bombers, 14 first-use GBU-57 weapons, extensive aerial refueling and a coordinated joint-force mission reaching Iranian nuclear facilities from the United States.
