American B-2 strategic bombers are equipped with everything for the comfort of pilots, media reports stated (Photo: U.S. Air National Guard/Master Sgt. Patrick Evenson/Handout via REUTERS)
American B-2 strategic bombers, which struck the Iranian uranium enrichment plant at Fordow with powerful bombs on the night of June 22, are equipped with, among other things, a toilet, microwave, and snack refrigerator.
This was mentioned in an article published on June 23 by The New York Post.
'The stealth bombers B-2, used to attack the uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, are equipped with toilets, microwave ovens, and typically snack refrigerators to make life easier for pilots who had to spend 37 hours in the cockpit during the flight from Missouri to Iran and back,' the publication writes.
According to NYP, American B-2 Spirit bombers, initially designed to drop nuclear bombs on the USSR, took off from Whiteman Air Force Base near Kansas City on Friday, June 20, to make the journey across the globe with several air refuels.
The combat aircraft also has enough space for one pilot to lie down and rest while the other operates the bomber.
The B-2 was first introduced into service in 1997. Each of these bombers costs over $2 billion. The U.S. Air Force has 19 aircraft in its inventory — one was lost due to an accident in 2008.
According to The Telegraph, seven B-2 bombers involved in Operation 'Midnight Hammer' flew in almost complete radio silence, while pilots took turns sleeping during the tense night.
The 37 hours spent attacking the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow became the longest mission for B-2 bombers since the initial U.S. military operation in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
According to NYP, U.S. Air Force command deployed numerous fighter jets and aircraft to meet the B-2s as they approached Iran.
'The B-2s joined up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, precisely timed maneuver that required exact synchronization among multiple platforms in a narrow section of airspace, all done with minimal communication,' said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Lieutenant General Daniel Kane.
As the general stated, the 25-minute operation in Iran began with the lead B-2 bomber dropping two GBU-57 'bunker-buster bombs' on 'the first of several targets in Fordow.'
'The rest of the bombers also hit their targets, dropping a total of 14 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrators) munitions on two nuclear targets,' Kane added.
This was the first time the U.S. Air Force used massive GBU-57 bombs weighing 15 tons in an attack, summarized NYP.
U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities: what is known
On the night of June 22, according to Kyiv time, Donald Trump announced airstrikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. According to him, U.S. forces attacked facilities in Fordow and Natanz, where uranium enrichment plants are located, as well as in Isfahan, where uranium conversion and centrifuge production facilities are located.
Trump stated that the goal of the U.S. strikes was 'to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities and stop the nuclear threat.'
According to CNN, the U.S. conducted airstrikes against Iran from American B-2 bombers.
Sources from the TV channel also reported that the U.S. used GBU-57 guided bunker-busting bombs for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. This is the first known instance of such bombs being used in a military operation.
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization declared its intention to continue its nuclear program despite attacks on its facilities by the U.S. and Israel.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that direct U.S. involvement in combat could result in 'irreparable damage' for Washington. He asserts that Americans 'will suffer greater losses than those in the past.'
Later, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kane, revealed that the operation targeting nuclear facilities in Iran was named Midnight Hammer. According to the general, American bombers took off from U.S. territory, and some of them headed west toward the Pacific Ocean as 'bait.'
As General Kane noted, U.S. forces used about 75 units of 'precision-guided munitions' during the operation, including 14 'massive penetrator bombs,' also known as 'bunker busters.'