🇺🇸 Operation Midnight Hammer has left Fordow — one of Iran’s most fortified nuclear sites — heavily cratered and structurally compromised, according to newly released satellite images from Maxar Technologies.
🛰️ The high-resolution imagery, dated June 22, 2025, confirms six precision munition craters punched into the mountain ridge directly above the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility, located deep underground.
Key Tactical Details:
Munitions Used:
– 6 x GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), each 13,600 kg
– Total explosive weight: 190,400 kg (419,200 lbs)
– Delivered by B-2A Spirit bombers in a 37-hour non-stop mission from Whiteman Air Force Base Targeted Impact: – Collapsing underground tunnels and centrifuge arrays
– Destroying internal infrastructure, not just surface damage – Ash and combustion residue seen coating the ridgeline
Satellite Evidence:
Crater patterns aligned over known ventilation shafts Extensive grey-blue ash suggesting combustion-based implosion Ridge structure appears compressed and disrupted, indicating chamber collapse below
If confirmed, this marks the first-ever operational use of the GBU-57 in combat — and possibly the largest kinetic penetrative attack on a nuclear facility in modern history.
Strategic Operation Summary:
Name: Operation Midnight Hammer Targets: Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan Munitions: 14 x GBU-57 Total MOP Mass Used: 190,400 kg Airframe: B-2A Spirit Stealth Bombers Outcome: Complete surprise, zero U.S. casualties, no SAM response
U.S. Leadership Statements:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated. American deterrence is back.” “This was a precision strike, not regime change.” General Dan Caine: “Iran’s SAMs didn’t see us. Their fighters didn’t fly.” “All three sites sustained extremely severe damage.” Vice President JD Vance: “We are not at war with Iran, only with its nuclear program.” “There will be no boots on the ground.”
Implications:
This strike not only signals the return of U.S. preemptive deterrence but sets a new benchmark in deep-penetration bombing strategy. By neutralizing Fordow, the U.S. has likely eliminated one of Iran’s most critical uranium enrichment hubs — without entering a ground war.
🕊️ Officials maintain this was a single, focused mission designed to dismantle nuclear capabilities — not initiate a full-scale conflict.
