Midnight Hammer is 'mission accomplished' but there's one big red flag
The Middle East was teetering on the verge of nuclear catastrophe courtesy of Iran. Seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers brought the region back from the edge this weekend.
President Donald Trump's powerful strike in Operation Midnight Hammer on Saturday was a street-smart move that pulled the knife out of Iran's hand. "We retained the element of surprise," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said at a Pentagon briefing on Sunday. Yes, that's the understatement of the year. Caine, an F-16 fighter pilot who flew combat in Iraq, was the right choice to be Trump's top military adviser as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
For now, it's mission accomplished. Iran's most advanced nuclear facilities are entombed in rubble. The first U.S. strike to prevent an emergent nuclear power has succeeded. And if the special smart fuses on the Massive Ordnance Penetrators did their job, a lot of expensive, complex machinery underground has been smashed to bits.
Reviewing 40 years of Iran's mayhem and attacks on U.S. servicemembers, it's clear to see why Iran could not ever be allowed to complete a nuclear weapon. Iran does not believe in deterrence as we know it. The Iranian possession of a nuclear bomb would have forced Israel to prepare options to use its own nuclear weapons. Midnight Hammer came just in time.
Absolutely the B-2s can strike again if need be. As President Trump said, there are plenty of targets. The B-2s will be back at Whiteman AFB having their stealth buffed up, while the crews debrief.
Here's the bad news. The U.S. may not have enough planes to carry out that kind of mission with China. With only 21 B-2s ever built and 19 still flying, the U.S. margin is thin.
The B-2 strikes came after hundreds of strikes on Iran's air defenses and command and control military targets by the Israeli air force in October 2024, and over the past ten days.
It still took 125 aircraft for Operation Midnight Hammer. That's including F-22 and F-35 fighter sweeps, Navy carrier F/A-18EF strike fighters and F/A-18G electronic warfare planes, and more, with KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling tankers providing post-strike gas for everybody.
Operation Midnight Hammer proved the need for 6th Generation aircraft – the next wave of stealth, designed to work with drones. Trump greenlighted the Air Force F-47 in March. Now he needs to do more, and fast.
First, and it's obvious, speed up the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the replacement for the B-2. The B-21 first flew almost three years ago and is in low-rate production. How about setting up a second manufacturing site and cranking out some new stealth bombers ASAP.
Next, the Navy has a secret, 6th Generation stealth plane for the aircraft carrier ready to go. But a food fight in the Pentagon over budget analysis is holding up the production decision, even though the Navy has worked on this plane for over 10 years and needs it to replace aging Superhornets when the line shuts down. Admiral after admiral has told Congress the Navy is ready to buy this plane now. Believe me, they will need it to deter China. (And yes, aircraft carriers most definitely can ride out Chinese missile attacks and keep fighting. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find, let alone hit, a moving target at sea that is spitting out electronic deception?)
Third, better restock the missile defenses carried by U.S. Navy destroyers, including the whole Standard Missile family.
Fourth, the U.S. Space Force operates the satellites that provide precision attack and picks up all the missile launches from Iran. Fund whatever they need for on-orbit resilience so the Chinese and Russians can't mess with space.
Why would U.S. forces ever want to strike China? They don't, I can assure you, but the Chinese may have other plans. Part of the mission of the B-2 is to hold critical targets at risk. In China, that may include ground-based laser weapons designed to zap satellites; their growing nuclear arsenal; or mobile missiles pounding U.S. bases, or China's aggressive air force and navy. You get the picture.
Deterrence is on the line. The B-2 over Iran just proved again that the phrase "hold critical target sets at risk" is an essential – and unique – U.S. military mission. Against any adversary.
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