The Weapons of Operation Midnight Hammer: MOPs, Tomahawks, and More

June 22, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

When seven Air Force B-2 stealth bombers hit Iran’s deep-underground nuclear development sites on June 21, the tool of choice in “Operation Midnight Hammer” was a unique weapon conceived and designed two decades ago for exactly such a mission: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator.

Built by Boeing, along with the Air Force and Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the MOP is a 30,000-pound, 20-foot-long behemoth that is 31.5 inches in diameter and includes a warhead weighing in at 5,740 pounds. The B-2s dropped 14 MOPs in the operation, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said was the first-ever operational use of the weapon.

Seven B-2 bombers—each with two MOPs—took part in the operation, while two other B-2s flew in a decoy operation that gave the impression the U.S. was deploying its stealth bombers to Guam. This meant that virtually the entire flyable B-2 inventory—there are only 20 B-2s in all—took part in the operation.

Fourth- and fifth-generation Air Force fighter jets. joined the B-2s in the operation as well. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine did not say which platforms were used.

In all, Caine said “more than 125” aircraft participated in the mission, including the B-2s, fighters, “dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers,” and a “full array” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. In addition, “hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals” supported the operation, he said.

A Navy submarine in the Arabian Sea launched “more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan,” Caine said. He added the TLAMs were “the last to strike” after the B-2s left the area.

Besides being stealthy and able to carry a heavy payload, the B-2’s radar allows it to map the target area in three dimensions with high resolution, and deliver ordnance very precisely against very specific aimpoints, such as ventilation shafts or other apertures.

A former B-2 pilot said that, once over the target area, B-2 pilots can use the radar to generate target coordinates “usually even more precise than intel has provided.”

B-2s have a rated maximum weapon load of 40,000 pounds, requiring special considerations to carry two 30,000-pound MOPs. The former B-2 pilot said the bombers likely took off with “a very minimal fuel load” and then refueled almost immediately after getting airborne. He said the B-2’s computer systems manage the aircraft’s flight so that, when the extremely heavy weapons are released, the aircraft doesn’t pitch violently upward, which might risk exposing it to tracking radars.

The MOPs were likely dropped from as high as 30,000 feet, sources said. Footage of MOP test flights show the bombs rapidly point nearly straight down after release, meaning the B-2s had to be virtually directly above the targets when the MOPs were dropped.

Developed beginning in the late 1990s, the MOP was inspired by U.S. defense leaders’ concern that work on nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons could be conducted out of reach of existing weapons in hardened, deeply-buried facilities. North Korea and Iran were both building such underground bunkers. While low-yield nuclear weapons were initially considered, U.S. officials worried that employing nuclear weapons would be considered escalatory and provocative.

In 2004, the Air Force and DTRA set about designing a conventional weapon capable of penetrating through layers of solid rock, steel, concrete and other materials to reach laboratories and storage facilities buried 200 feet underground. The GBU-72, a 5,000-pound penetrator rushed into service for use against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, could not reach those targets.

The MOP was designed with a hardened casing that, using gravity alone, would slice through protective layers of earth, rock, concrete, and steel. Inside the bomb, sensors can detect how many voids and layers it’s passing through and detonate at the chosen level.

It’s not known exactly how many MOPs were built. Public records suggest 20 were purchased, but nearly that number has been expended in tests.

Although it was initially tested with the intent of dropping it from a B-52, the MOP was always intended to equip the B-2 bomber since the heavily protected targets it was designed to hit were expected to be defended with top-tier air defense systems. Initial operational capability was achieved in 2011.

Test drops from B-2s were conducted in 2014-2016; four were tested in 2017 to validate enhancements. The most recent upgrade is the Large Penetrator Smart Fuse modification, which was tested in 2020 against a tunnel target. Three more tests were conducted between 2021 and 2022. Two full-scale tests were made in 2024 to verify B-2 integration work and lethality.

An Air Force fact sheet on the MOP describes integration activities for the weapon as “complete.” It said Boeing got the contract to complete integration of the MOP in 2009, which “entailed minor modifications to the MOP and to the aircraft.”

Other weapons likely employed in Midnight Hammer include:

ADM-160 MALD. Caine’s mention of “decoys” may reference the Raytheon ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy, or MALD. The MALD is a low-cost missile that emits signals mimicking those of fighters and other combat aircraft, meant to fool air defense systems into shooting them instead of the crewed airplanes. The weapon has no kinetic mission, but is available in a radar-jammer version as well as the basic decoy model. The MALD has a range of about 575 miles and is most frequently carried by F-16s. If it were used in Midnight Hammer, it would mark the first combat use of the weapon.

BGM-109 TLAM. The 3,300-pound Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, also built by Raytheon, is a ship- or submarine-launched, GPS-guided weapon with a 1,000-pound blast/fragmentary or unitary warhead. The “D” model TLAM is a submunitions dispenser. It’s capable of precision attack against fixed targets, but it can be reprogrammed in flight to strike other targets. TLAMs fly at subsonic speeds at low altitude, evading defender radars by hugging the terrain. More recent models have a camera that will allow TLAMs arriving after some have already struck to transmit imagery of battle damage back to their launch platform.

AGM-88 HARM or AARGM-ER: Caine did not specify which “high-speed” defense-suppression weapon was used against the defensive missiles and radars around the three nuclear sites, but the Air Force has two such weapons. The AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM, was used to great effect in the 1991 Gulf War. It quickly detects a search or tracking radar, and when launched, follows the emissions at extreme velocity directly to the radar, destroying it. Iraqi radar operators quickly stopped turning on their air defense radars when it became clear that any emissions would result in an explosion a few seconds later. A defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine numerous HARMs were used in the operation. The HARM’s successors are the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) and the AARGM Extended Range, made by Northrop Grumman. Besides being less jammable, the AARGM can fly farther and faster, is stealthier to prevent it being shot down, and can better distinguish between targets. It will also be the basis of the Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW), which the Air Force expects will succeed the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of guided bombs.

Pentagon Editor Chris Gordon contributed reporting.

7 Air Force B-2s Drop 14 Bunker-Buster Bombs on Iran

June 22, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear sites in the early hours of June 22 local time in Operation Midnight Hammer, intended to shut down Iran’s nuclear program without harming the country’s leadership.

The Trump administration said the damage would substantially delay Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon. But Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said the Pentagon was still awaiting a definitive battle damage assessment.

One key, open question is whether Iran had managed to divert enriched uranium and equipment to safe locations before the U.S. strike, or whether there are other, unknown sites where nuclear work can proceed.

U.S. Air Force bombers and submarine-launched cruise missiles struck the three sites in the early hours of June 22, local time: the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities.

At an early morning Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Caine offered fresh details on the strikes, revealing that some 125 U.S. planes participated in the mission, 75 precision-guided munitions were expended, and both fourth- and fifth-generation fighters joined B-2 stealth bombers on the mission.

The B-2s dropped 14 Massive Ordinance Penetrators on the Fordow and Natanz sites. It was the first operational use of the MOP, which was designed expressly for this kind of deeply buried targets. Each MOP weighs 30,000 pounds, and each B-2 can carry just two of the weapons, indicating that at least seven B-2s took part in the operation.

The mission was carefully calculated and its execution included intentional misdirection. Multiple B-2s headed West from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., on June 21, with a flight plan that indicated Guam was their destination. The ruse caught the attention of internet spotters and journalists, prompting reports that suggested the aircraft were positioning for a potential future fight. Meanwhile, the strike mission unfolded without notice: Seven B-2s headed east over the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea before crossing over the Middle East to strike Iran.

The strike package also took off from Whiteman—where the entire B-2 fleet is based—just after midnight on the morning of June 21, refueled multiple times en route to Iran with dozens of U.S. tankers, and entered Iranian airspace at 6 p.m. Eastern Time later that day. They returned to the U.S. June 22.

The sites included Fordow, which is buried deep underground, and Natanz, defense officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Caine said 30 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles were fired from a submarine at the Isfahan site and impacted after the impacts of Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster bombs on two sites.

“Every American involved in this operation performed flawlessly,” Hegseth said.

Caine said the B-2s were led into hostile territory by both fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, most likely F-16s and F-35s. Defense officials declined to identify the specific types or number of fighters, however, but Caine indicated their mission was to protect the bombers on their way into the territory.

“As the Operation Midnight Hammer Strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the fourth-and fifth-generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile threats,” Caine said. The Chairman added that the U.S. did not believe Iranian forces—either fighters or air defense forces—fired on the U.S. aircraft.

Post-strike SkySat imagery of Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, June 22, 2025. **Planet Labs PBC**

A defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine that numerous anti-radiation missiles, including HARMs, were fired by American aircraft to suppress enemy air defenses—the U.S. has Air Force F-16 Wild Weasel fighters and Navy EA-18 electronic attack planes in the region, but whether those aircraft were involved has not been confirmed.

“As the strike package approached Fordow and Natanz, the U.S. protection package employed high-speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package with fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian surface-to-air threats,” Caine said.

Among the 125 U.S. aircraft involved in the operation were Air Force tankers—the KC-46 Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotankers—at least two kinds of fighters, bombers, and more.

Israel had wiped out most Iranian air defenses in the eight days leading up to the June 21 attack, but without the munitions or bombers capable of destroying a site such as Fordow, Israel had asked for American help. Israel’s punishing air campaign, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, was launched June 12 with the intent of diminishing Iran’s ability to develop and use nuclear weapons. Israel also attacked Iran’s military leadership, killing numerous senior military leaders and systematically undermining Iran’s ability to defend itself.

“Israel had incredible military success,” Hegseth said, in response to a question from Air & Space Forces Magazine. He cited the Israeli Air Force’s success “in degrading Iranian capabilities, degrading Iranian [medium range ballistic missile] launchers,” and added: “It’s been incredible to watch what our ally Israel has been able to do. … But as it pertains to this strike, this was U.S.-operated, U.S.-led.”

Nevertheless, Caine said, Israel laid much of the groundwork for the U.S. strike’s success.

“We took advantage of some of the preparatory work that’s been done over the past week and a half in terms of access and approach,” he said.

What was left was to do the work that only the U.S. Air Force could accomplish, with its unique combination of bombers, bombs, and support capabilities.

President Donald Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the White House Situation Room during strikes on Iran, June 21, 2025. White House photo

President Donald Trump was exuberant in his appreciation of the apparently well-executed attack.

“I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades,” Trump said June 21. “Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity.”

What Iran does in response is still to be determined. On June 18, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump’s call for Iran to “surrender” its nuclear program and warned that any U.S. military action against Iran would bring consequences to the U.S.

In his late-night address to the nation, Trump said Iran’s belligerence “cannot continue.”

“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he said. “Remember, there are many targets left—tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.”

The U.S. has taken steps to mitigate potential damage should Iran or its proxy forces attack U.S. forces in the region, moving larger planes away from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is located directly across the Persian Gulf from Iran, and placing troops on heightened alert, U.S. officials have said.

In the United States, politicians lined up mostly on party lines in response to the attack.

Republican lawmakers praised Trump’s decision to strike Iran.

“The President made the correct decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement. “Iran made the choice to continue its pursuit of a nuclear weapon and would only be stopped by force. It would be a grave mistake to attempt any retaliation against our forces or homeland.”

But some Democrats were critical, saying Trump rushed into the conflict without Congress’s authorization.

“The American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Vice Presidential candidate, wrote on social media. “And the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted yesterday that Israeli bombing had set the Iranian nuclear program back ‘at least two or three years.’ So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment. I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the bombing raises the risk of further complications in the Middle East. “The risk of war has now dramatically increased,” he said. “President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force, and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”

But Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), however, broke with his party colleagues, calling Trump’s decision to bomb Iran “the correct move.”

B-2 Bombers Launch Westward as Trump Weighs Striking Iran

June 21, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

Multiple U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., June 21, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed. The deployment comes as President Donald Trump considers whether to join Israel’s air campaign against Iran. U.S. officials declined to discuss the purpose of the flights.

Local observers spotted B-2s from Whiteman taking off overnight, and flight tracking and voice communications indicate multiple bombers operating under the callsigns MYTEE11 and MYTEE21. The MYTEE callsign is used by American strategic bombers, both B-2s and B-52s.

It is unclear whether the bombers intend to land at a forward operating base or what their final destination is.

The Pentagon referred questions about the mission to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel’s punishing air campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Rising Lion and begun June 12, has sought to diminish Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and to decapitate the heads of Iran’s military forces. Israel has systematically reduced Iran’s ability to defend against air attacks, achieving air superiority over Iran. But Israel lacks the heavy bombers and bunker-penetrating ordnance needed to destroy Iran’s deeply buried nuclear facilities.

Were Trump to launch strikes, a likely target is Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, which is buried in a mountain and so heavily defended that many experts believe the U.S. is the only country that has the military tools to destroy it.

A U.S. attack would likely be executed by multiple B-2s carrying 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, enormous bunker-busting bombs designed for deeply buried targets.

According to open-source flight tracking and radio communications, the bombers launched on June 21 were refueled off the U.S. Pacific Coast by Air Force tankers using HIFI callsigns, which are commonly associated with bomber missions.

Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” June 17, but Iran’s leadership scoffed in response. The President subsequently said he would make a decision on whether to join Israel in combat operations within the next two weeks—giving Iran what Trump later said is time “to come to their senses.”

“We’re ready, willing, and able,” Trump told reporters June 20. “We’ve been speaking to Iran. We’ll see what happens.”

The U.S. has some 40,000 troops in the Middle East, and U.S. officials say that additional U.S. deployments to the region are purely defensive.

So far, the U.S. military mission has been limited to protecting Israel and U.S. forces. U.S. fighter aircraft have helped shoot down Iranian drones, and U.S. THAAD batteries and Aegis-equipped ships have also defended Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said June 16.

The U.S. has moved more ballistic missile defense destroyers to the eastern Mediterranean in recent days, and has deployed more than two dozen tankers to Europe and additional Air Force fighters to the Middle East. The Pentagon has also dispatched the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the region under U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East. The Nimitz will join the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, which is already operating in the region.

It is unclear how many bombers are in flight, but there appear to be multiple formations of more than one bomber. In March, the Air Force deployed six B-2s to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, where the bombers engaged in a bombing campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen until early May, when the U.S. reached a ceasefire with the group. Four B-52 Stratofortress bombers replaced the B-2s on Diego Garcia and remain on station there.

“We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it,” Trump said, in response to a question about bombing Fordow June 18. “These are incredible planes and weapons.”

A spokesperson for Air Forces Central, which is responsible for the U.S. military’s Middle East air component, declined to comment on the moves, referring questions to U.S. Central Command, which also declined to comment.

Since Israel began its air war against Iran June 12, the Pentagon has ordered additional air assets into the region, including F-16 and F-35 multi-role fighters. F-22 air superiority fighters are likely to arrive in the coming days. USAF squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes, and F-16s were already in place in the Middle East.

Marine Tapped to Lead F-35 Joint Program Office

June 21, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

President Donald Trump has nominated Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory L. Masiello to lead the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the Pentagon announced June 20. If confirmed by the Senate, he would succeed Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, who has led the program since 2022.

Masiello, who now heads the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), is a former enlisted Marine and a naval aviator who flew the UH-1N and VH-3 presidential transports, and spent time as the V-22 Joint Program Manager. From 2013-2014, he was the senior military deputy to Frank Kendall, who at the time was undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. He then moved on to become the F-35 Joint Program Director for Follow-On development. Before taking charge at DCMA, he was program executive officer for the Navy’s airborne anti-submarine warfare programs.

DCMA is responsible for contract complince and manages testing and acceptance, roles that involve oversight of F-35’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, and its engine provider, Pratt & Whitney.

Under the Joint Strike Fighter program’s structure, which alternates roles for the Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force, the JPO will now report to the Air Force acquisition executive. In the past, the deputy program manager was also of the same service as the service acquisition executive, but that practice was abandoned several years ago, in favor of a civilian in that position.

Masiello would be the first naval officer to lead the program in several years. Schmidt was the second consecutive USAF officer to run the JPO, succeeding Lt. Gen. Eric Fick. That was the first time in the program’s history when officers from the same service followed each other in the position.

During Schmidt’s tenure, the F-35 program wrestled with the transition from the basic fighter to the initial stages of the Block 4 upgraded version. He presided over the start of the engine core upgrade program—chosen after lengthy debate about using new adaptive engines—and the Tech Refresh 3, which is the hardware and software basis for the 80 or so improvements that will come with Block 4. He also negotiated the Lot 18 and 19 contracts—not yet definitized—and managed the program through a yearlong hold on deliveries as Lockheed Martin and the test enterprise labored to clear the TR-3.

New Recruiting Task Force Looks to Build on Recent Gains

June 20, 2025 | By Rachel S. Cohen

As the U.S. military enjoys a resurgence in interest among potential recruits, a new Pentagon task force will try to build on that momentum.

The Military Service Recruitment Task Force, established June 13 by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, aims to woo a new generation of service members with a fresh, unified message and new ways to expand the pool of eligible Americans.

The task force is the latest initiative to encourage young Americans to enlist after a rocky few years prompted concerns about whether the 52-year-old all-volunteer force could survive a second half-century.

“Changing environmental factors demand a targeted and strategic approach to strengthen recruiting efforts across the department,” Hegseth wrote in a memo creating the task force.

Jay Hurst, the Defense Department’s acting personnel boss, and Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell will co-chair the panel. Public affairs, marketing, and recruitment experts from each service will weigh in, as will the Pentagon’s top legislative affairs official and its general counsel.

The team is asked to assess the current recruiting landscape within 30 days; propose policy and legislative changes to address those challenges within 60 days; and draw up a communications plan to support the armed forces and the Pentagon’s internal polling office, which tracks public sentiment about military service, within 90 days, the memo said.

Hegseth hopes to capitalize on the Navy and Marine Corps’ 250th anniversaries this fall as major recruiting events, as well as America’s own semiquincentennial in July 2026. The Army did not respond to a query on whether it has seen a spike in interest following its 250th birthday parade in Washington June 14.

Enlisted recruitment has faced headwinds for years. The share of Americans who know someone in uniform has dwindled since the 1990s, diminishing young people’s familiarity with military life and, by extension, their propensity to serve.

Recreational drug use, criminal convictions, and common prescription medication for conditions from attention deficit disorder to asthma have also been barriers. Even basic health and physical fitness can be barriers to entry. Many would-be recruits can’t qualify under health and weight standards. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 would need a waiver to join because they would otherwise be disqualified from service, the Pentagon said in October.

The military has attacked the downturn by loosening certain standards, like body fat limits and a ban on neck and hand tattoos, to open the door wider for people who otherwise qualify. The Army launched a preparatory program for those who need to lose weight or study more to snag a billet; the Air Force added recruiters to help ensure prospects don’t fall through the cracks. DOD has also tackled major delays caused by the rollout of a new electronic health records system that has piled on paperwork for recruiters.

Hegseth contends the recent success is driven by enthusiasm for President Donald Trump’s reelection last November.

“Because of President Trump and his ‘America First’ priorities, recruitment and retention under this administration are higher than they’ve been in decades,” Hegseth told House lawmakers June 12. “Historic numbers of young Americans are putting on the uniform and raising their right hand because they believe in the leadership they see.”

While support for a commander-in-chief may factor into a recruit’s interest, surveys have found pay and benefits are the strongest lures. Those include free health care and money for housing, and associated benefits like the VA’s GI Bill for advanced education and veterans home loan programs.

The Pentagon’s own data shows recruitment was rebounding even before the 2024 presidential election.

Last October, a Defense Department official said the armed services had recruited 12.5 percent more people in fiscal 2024 than in the previous year—up to 225,000 from 200,000—“despite a challenging and disinterested recruiting market.”

Every military service but the Navy met their accession goals for 2024. About 5,000 Navy recruits signed contracts but didn’t ship out to boot camp by the end of the year because of “basic training limitations,” the Pentagon said in a press release.

This year, all six branches of the armed forces have already met or appear on track to hit their recruiting goals. However, the Army and Navy met their numbers by lowering the military’s quality benchmarks, the Pentagon said last month. Those metrics, set by DOD, require that at least 90 percent of recruits have a high school diploma and that at least 60 percent score above average on the Armed Forces Qualification Test.

The Air Force has said it expects to cross the finish line early this year after shrinking its recruitment goal from 32,500 to 29,950 new enlistments. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin told lawmakers June 5 the service has lowered its expectations after Congress failed to pass a fiscal 2025 budget, shortchanging Airmen the money they need to bring in another 2,550 troops.

Pentagon Deploys F-22s as Trump Weighs Strikes on Iran

June 18, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors landed at RAF Lakenheath in England June 18 as President Donald Trump weighs whether to join Israel’s attacks on Iran.

Multiple Raptors landed at the British base, which is often a stopover location for fighters headed to the Middle East. The 1st Fighter Wing jets took off from their home base at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., according to local observers and flight-tracking data.

The U.S. has also dispatched over two dozen tankers to Europe and ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to speed its deployment to the U.S. Central Command area, as the Pentagon bolsters its airpower in the Middle East.

The U.S. has thus far declined to take on an offensive role in the nascent war, either through strikes on Iran or by refueling Israeli aircraft.

“I have ideas on what to do, but I haven’t made a final [decision]—I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due,” Trump told reporters at the White House June 18. “I may do it, I may not do it.”

The F-22, the U.S. premier fifth-generation air superiority fighter, has often been mobilized in times of tension with Iran. Most recently, the U.S. rushed F-22s from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, last August after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a bomb smuggled into the house in Tehran where he was staying—an attack Iran blamed on Israel.

F-22s are capable of shooting down Iranian drones and could also be used to escort less stealthy aircraft into hostile airspace, and open-source flight tracking data indicates that F-16s and F-35s are also likely being deployed.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the F-22 deployment or any additional fighter movements.

A likely target if the U.S. does decide to intervene is Fordow, Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility. The facility is buried in a mountain and is so heavily defended that many experts believe the U.S. is the only country that possesses the necessary bombers and munitions to destroy it.

A U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would likely be executed in part by multiple B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., carrying 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting bombs to target Fordow.

“We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it,” Trump said when asked about Fordow June 18. “These are incredible planes and weapons.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that morning that a decision whether to strike Iran would be made “at the presidential level.”

“At the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that’s precisely what we’re doing,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

America and its allies are offering Israel defensive military assistance to defeat incoming drones and missiles, as they have during the country’s previous confrontations with Iran. U.S. fighters have helped to protect Israel by fending off Iranian drones, and U.S Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense batteries and Aegis-equipped U.S. Navy warships have helped down Iranian missiles.

In April 2024, support from U.S. and allied fighter jets and air defenses brought down roughly 80 drones and six missiles—some of the 300 projectiles sent towards Israel in that skirmish—and helped Israel weather an attack by 200 Iranian missiles last October. In both cases, the U.S. rushed more warplanes to the region just prior to the attacks.

The U.S. has moved some aircraft from its largest installation in the region, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, a possible target for an Iranian counterattack on U.S. forces.

“From the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, the Iranian Regime has fired approximately 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 UAVs at Israel,” an Israeli military official said. Israeli officials say that approximately 20 ballistic missiles have hit civilian areas in Israel.

Foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Union are scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghch June 20 in Geneva.

House Appropriators Want More Transparency for Big-Ticket Air Force Buys

June 18, 2025 | By Matthew Cox

The House Appropriations Committee wants the Air Force to be more open about how it manages its multibillion-dollar weapons acquisitions to ensure they are fully funded and ready for the next fight.

In a report accompanying the committee’s proposed 2026 defense budget, the committee recommended that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink significantly improve how the service identifies and prioritizes the new capabilities it needs to deter and, if necessary, defeat other technologically advanced adversaries such as China on the future battlefield.

House appropriators sent the draft budget bill on to the full chamber in a 36-27 vote June 12, even though the Pentagon has not yet publicly released its 2026 budget request that lawmakers would typically use as a starting point.

Committee members expressed concerns over how the Air Force reallocated roughly one-third of the $3.2 billion Congress provided to continue developing the high-priority Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile in fiscal 2025.

The committee said the Air Force has created confusion in the budget process by grouping the next-generation F-47 fighter and the Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingman program into a single pot of money. Lawmakers also dinged the service for failing to modernize flight simulators for the B-52 Stratofortress bomber.

As a path forward, the committee is pushing the Air Force’s new Integrated Capabilities Command to redefine the service’s needs, develop feasible modernization plans, and execute realistic acquisitions to support troops, according to the report.

The Air Force stood up a provisional version of the new command last fall with the goal of reaching full operations sometime this year. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said the goal is to create a unified organization that will lead force modernization efforts and keep various branches of the service aligned on the way ahead.

To maintain oversight, House appropriators would require Meink to brief both the House and Senate armed services committees on the status and cost estimates of standing up the ICC and its subordinate offices, how it might impact current programs and whether the strategic basing process is required for their establishment.

The committee would also require ICC leadership to provide semi-annual briefings to both appropriations committees on how its offices are working to achieve strategic modernization, recapitalization, and resourcing for the Air Force.

In the short term, the committee wants more details on spending decisions for Sentinel, echoing concerns of lawmakers on other congressional panels. In early June, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) pressed Air Force leaders why the service had reduced the $3.2 billion budget for Sentinel by roughly $1.2 billion to fund other programs. He and other lawmakers voiced worry that Sentinel won’t be ready to replace the current Minuteman III missiles before they are too old to be effective.

“An adjustment of this magnitude should have been accompanied by proactive communications including robust details on a rephasing plan,” the House Appropriations report said.

The committee recommends just over $2 billion for Sentinel for 2026, as additional funds may become available through reconciliation, the report added. The sweeping tax-and-spending bill in the works by congressional Republicans could offer up to $2.5 billion to develop the new land-based nuclear missiles.

“Given significant cost changes projected for this effort,” the committee would direct Meink to provide an update as soon as possible on the ICBM’s new price tag as well as quarterly briefings on program updates and cost data.

The committee also took issue with the Air Force’s practice of combining the F-47 and CCAs under the Next-Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, program funding line.

“The co-mingling of two significant acquisition programs limited Congress’ ability to track how funding was allocated between NGAD and CCA efforts within the year of execution,” the report said. For more visibility into cost and performance, the committee recommended moving the CCA into a separate funding line from NGAD.

CCAs are envisioned as artificially intelligent drone wingmen that can significantly increase airpower while taking Airmen out of harm’s way. The committee recommended roughly $495 million for the CCA program in fiscal 2026; another $678 million may come through the reconciliation package. That totals $1.2 billion, up from the Air Force’s $804 million request for CCAs.

House appropriators recommended $3.2 billion for F-47 in the base budget, slightly lower than Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Air Force needs for the sixth-generation fighter that will provide the service with greater range and more advanced stealth capability.

The committee also said the Air Force needs to invest more to modernize B-52 flight simulators. It recommended just over $26 million for the Air Force to collect, analyze, and prepare flight simulation and modeling for the B-52H.

HAC would require Meink to brief the congressional defense committees on the service’s strategy and cost estimates to develop, test, and procure modernized B-52H high-fidelity flight simulators.

Trump Formally Nominates Guetlein as Golden Dome Czar

June 18, 2025 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The White House this week formally tapped the Space Force’s No. 2 officer to oversee the sweeping Golden Dome missile defense project.

Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations, is nominated to take on the role of “direct reporting program manager” for Golden Dome, the Pentagon announced June 18. A June 16 notice in the Congressional Record indicated Guetlein would be reassigned but did not specify his new job.

President Donald Trump announced Guetlein would run the Golden Dome program at a White House press conference last month.

Golden Dome is envisioned as a massive network of sensors, interceptor weapons, and electronic-attack tools that—like its inspiration, Israel’s Iron Dome—would protect the United States from ballistic and cruise missiles. Trump is pushing for the project to become operational by the end of his term in 2029, a goal defense experts say is unlikely.

Guetlein will be tasked with pulling together existing military systems—relying heavily on the military space enterprise that the four-star has helped build—and fielding new ones to track, warn of, and disable or destroy incoming missiles, similar to the Reagan-era “Star Wars” initiative that failed to come to fruition.

Such an enterprise would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to develop and launch. Trump has projected a $175 billion price tag, while an independent estimate pegged the cost of space-based missile interceptors alone at more than $542 billion over 20 years.

Guetlein, who has likened Golden Dome’s scope to the Manhattan Project that developed America’s first nuclear weapons, is no stranger to major acquisition initiatives. The general led the Space Force’s acquisition branch, Space Systems Command, for two years following stints as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office and a program executive at the Missile Defense Agency.

He’ll become the face of one of Trump’s top defense priorities, particularly as the administration looks to jumpstart its progress with a $25 billion infusion of funds through the massive GOP-led spending package under consideration on Capitol Hill. It’s unclear how much money the Pentagon is seeking for Golden Dome in total next year.

Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized the Trump administration for seeking billions of dollars to fund Golden Dome in 2026 with few details of how it would spend that money.

“We still haven’t seen a clear definition of what it is,” Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, said June 10. He questioned how Golden Dome would protect the continental U.S., as well as Hawaii and Alaska, without “spending a lot of money unnecessarily.”

Over the course of several recent congressional hearings, lawmakers and defense officials have begun piecing together a clearer picture of how Golden Dome might work. Air Force and Space Force leaders expect their services will play a significant part in bringing Golden Dome to life.

Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top officer, told House lawmakers June 5 Golden Dome will spur the service to take on requirements for missions that have never been accomplished by a military space organization. He expects leaders will lay the “foundational groundwork” for Golden Dome by the end of September, noting that the Space Force is already discussing how to integrate its systems with other military services and agencies.

Defense officials have floated several ideas of existing and future technologies that could become part of Golden Dome.

Plugged into that network could be heat-seeking sensors and artificial intelligence-powered targeting tools; Northrop Grumman’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Satellites that are designed to follow low-flying, fast-moving weapons; and undersea submarine-tracking sensors, among other equipment, military officials told lawmakers.

“I think that it’s a seabed-to-space approach,” said U.S. Northern Command boss Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, who is also the country’s top homeland defense officer as head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

“We need to have undersea sensors to detect submarines that can now get closer to North America than they could before based on improved stealthiness of those ships,” he told senators May 13. “Then a ground layer that can see much further out because of the advanced standoff weapons that our adversaries can now employ.”

Then add an air layer, like the E-7 Wedgetail airborne target-tracking plane, and a space layer, he said. The Pentagon has indicated it will abandon the Air Force’s plan to buy a fleet of Wedgetails in favor of eventually relying on satellites to track airborne targets—an approach critics say would leave the U.S. military far short of the aircraft- and missile-tracking capabilities it needs until those space assets are ready.

“I suspect that [Golden Dome] would be able to use a lot of the systems that are already in place and currently in development, which would give us a full capability in probably something closer to zero to five years, as opposed to something a decade out into the future,” Guillot said.

The project will also require a buildup of radars and military communications infrastructure around population centers and defense sites, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) added June 18 at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the 2026 defense budget.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin cautioned that the whole Golden Dome enterprise—from the sensors that see an enemy strike to the software that processes reconnaissance images and the weapons that neutralize a threat—”all has to be stitched together.” The service has struggled to network its own sensors and shooters as an alternative to jet-based battle management over the past several years.

“We’re doing the mission analysis,” Allvin said at the June 5 House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of the Air Force’s budget request. “Which systems are required . . . so we can move data to the right places and most effectively orchestrate a very complex mission set?”

While Saltzman said at the June 5 hearing it’s too early in that analysis to know whether Golden Dome would protect the U.S. from bomb-laden small drones like those that attacked Russian bomber aircraft earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers a few days later that the Pentagon’s 2026 budget request includes “robust increases” in hypersonic weapons, drones and counter-drone technology, and surveillance tools that could become part of Golden Dome.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told House lawmakers June 12 that the Defense Department is looking at ballistic missile defenses like the Army’s Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system and the Navy’s Aegis Ashore system to ensure they can connect to offer all-encompassing protection without any gaps.

Among the biggest lessons the U.S. can adopt from Iron Dome is Israel’s insistence on plug-and-play technology—unlike America’s bespoke systems that often need modifications or add-ons to talk to other military equipment.

“You cannot even sell a system to the Israeli military . . . that is not open architecture, that will not work with the rest of their systems, so you don’t end up with a proprietary system that’s standalone,” U.S. Central Command boss Gen. Michael E. Kurilla told HASC June 10. “We need systems that can integrate and all talk to each other.”

A spokesperson for the Senate Armed Services Committee did not answer June 18 when the panel might consider Guetlein’s nomination.

If Guetlein is confirmed, his departure from Space Force leadership would leave the Air Force and Space Force without Senate-approved vice chiefs. Trump fired Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jim Slife in February’s purge of top brass that also included the ousters of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown Jr. and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

Hegseth said at the time the firings sought to “focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars.”

Spain Tapped as New Air Combat Command Boss

June 18, 2025 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Lt. Gen. Adrian L. Spain has been nominated to lead Air Combat Command, the service’s biggest command, the Pentagon announced June 18.

If confirmed, Spain would replace Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, who is retiring, and command more than 150,000 personnel and 1,000 aircraft from ACC headquarters at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.

Lt. Gen. Case A. Cunningham, commander of U.S. Alaska Command, has been nominated to succeed Spain as the Air Force A-3, the Pentagon said.

Spain has been the principal architect of the Air Force’s plan to overhaul combat deployments around the world. As the A-3, he drove an evolution from “crowd-sourced” commands to air task forces and, beginning next year, deployable combat wings. The aim is to train more capable, cohesive teams that rotate into overseas assignments in a more predictable manner than has been typical in the past 10-15 years.

“America’s Air Force stands ready and able to defend the homeland, ensure a robust nuclear deterrent via our two legs of the nuclear triad, and project power around the world to deter and win as the nation requires,” Spain told House lawmakers last month. “Today’s airmen will do so with the oldest airplanes, the smallest force and with fewer flying hours than at any point in our history. Airmen have and always will get the job done. But today, they do so at elevated risk.”

ACC is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping most of the service’s air, cyber and electronic warfare forces, and is expected to take a lead role in measuring and ensuring the readiness of combat forces across the breadth of the Air Force under plans unveiled just over a year ago.

Spain faces significant challenges within ACC, where he will inherit decades-old equipment and must begin the process of planning to integrate next-generation weapons such as the F-47 fighter, unmanned collaborative combat aircraft, and more.

“The sooner we get the older aircraft off of our books and off our flight lines and into new capability, the better off for the Air Force,” Spain told lawmakers in May.

A fighter pilot who has racked up over 2,150 flight hours in over a dozen airframes, including more than 200 in F-15s and F-22s, Spain became the Air Force A-3 in December 2023. He has held several staff positions at U.S. military commands around the world, including U.S. European Command, U.S. Northern Command, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Force Africa. He also led the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing out of Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and the 53rd Wing, a major test unit at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

Replacing Spain in the Pentagon would be Cunningham, a fighter pilot who has commanded the famed Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team, led an expeditionary reconnaissance wing in Afghanistan, and worked at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He has also run a key drone wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., and an air wing in Japan. His staff jobs included stints at ACC and with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The Congressional Record noted Spain’s nomination for a fourth star on June 17 but did not specify which job he would hold.

Both Spain and Cunningham’s nominations require Senate confirmation.