Satellite image shows Fordow nuclear facility after massive bomb strike

New satellite images of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility reveal the aftermath of a massive bomb strike that the U.S. military launched as part of its Operation Midnight Hammer.

The U.S. launched a surprise strike using B-2 stealth bombers on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities on Saturday. 

“All three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Sunday morning. He added that the full extent of the battle damage to the facilities would take time to assess.

Fordow, Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment site, was pictured in satellite images showing from a bird’s-eye view that the strike had obliterated some structures at the site.

Caine also detailed how Operation Midnight Hammer was the “largest B-2 operational strike in US history.” 

The operation employed advanced deception tactics and used more than 125 aircraft to carry out the success of the mission, including seven B-2 stealth bombers, multiple fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and “a full array” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, Caine said.

U.S. forces launched approximately 75 precision-guided munitions, according to Caine, including 14 30,000-pound GBU 57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, the first operational use of this weapon.