The B-2 bomber pilots who carried out strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have returned to the U.S., President Trump confirmed on Sunday.
CBS News crews captured video of several B-2 Spirit Bombers flying back to the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Sunday afternoon. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier in the day that seven of the aircraft flew east from the base to Iran to bomb three nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. The mission, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” was the “largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history,” Caine said.
“Thank you for a job well done!!!,” Mr. Trump wrote Sunday in a Truth Social post confirming the pilots’ return. He also said Sunday that the damage to Iran’s nuclear sites was “monumental.”
“The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military,” he said in another post.
At a Pentagon briefing Sunday, Caine said that each of the B-2 bombers carried two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs. Over 25 minutes, a total of 14 MOPs were dropped on two target areas at Fordo and Natanz, while Tomahawk missiles from a U.S. submarine targeted the Isfahan site, he said.
Another group of B-2s flew west over the Pacific to act as decoys, Caine said.
“More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated in this mission,” Caine said, including the B-2 bombers, fighter jets, refueling planes and surveillance aircraft. More than 75 precision-guided weapons were used in the attack, he noted.
The following day, satellite images show several large diameter holes or craters on the top of the ridge over the underground complex at Fordo. At Natanz and Isfahan, photos from Maxar Technologies show extensive building damage across the facilities, including a fuel enrichment plant.
Stefan Becket and
contributed to this report.
Kiki Intarasuwan is a news editor for CBS News & Stations.
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