In the most ambitious U.S. stealth airstrike in decades, seven B-2 Spirit bombers flew 7,000 miles from Missouri to Iran over the weekend weekend, dropping more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs on nuclear sites buried deep under rock and reinforced concrete.
Codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, the overnight mission relied on deception, aerial refueling, and near-total radio silence to hit Iran’s Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities—sites that had withstood weeks of sustained Israeli attacks. Pentagon officials called it a precision strike designed to “devastate” Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and showcase America’s global reach and resolve.
While the world awaits any official damage assessments out of Fordo or Natanz, the mission has served as a real-world rebuttal to tech leaders like Elon Musk, who have claimed drones are making highly specialized aircraft like the B-2 an unnecessary expense for modern militaries. Inspired by Ukraine’s success using drones to strike deep into Russian territory, Musk has mocked the Pentagon’s reliance on manned stealth jets like the F-35, calling them outdated, vulnerable, and economically wasteful compared to “drone swarms.”
“Manned fighter jets are obsolete,” he posted last year, adding that future wars would be won by fleets of cheap, autonomous drones.
But when the U.S. needed to neutralize heavily fortified nuclear targets inside one of the world’s most defended airspaces, it turned not to unmanned systems—but to human crews flying 30-year-old bombers halfway around the world.
A Real-World Demonstration
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who helped design the original B-2 strike doctrine, said Sunday’s airstrike marked a turning point—not just for Tehran’s nuclear program, but for the broader debate over the future of airpower.
“This level of performance isn’t theoretical,” Deptula told Newsweek. “It’s a real-world demonstration that stealthy, crewed aircraft remain central to high-end operations—especially when nuclear or deeply buried targets are involved.”
Naveed Jamali, a journalist, former Naval intelligence officer and host of Newsweek’s Unconventional, said the mission proved that the U.S. still leads the world in strategic bombing.
“It shows that the U.S. is superior to every other country in our ability to employ long-range bombers—in terms of lethality, capability, and capacity,” said Jamali, who became just the 820th person to fly in a B-2 when he was invited to report aboard one of the bombers last year. “It validates the continued relevance and necessity of maintaining this kind of capability.”
U.S. officials have confirmed that Iran’s air defenses failed to detect or engage the incoming strike. Most lawmakers had not been briefed in advance, and President Trump’s public suggestion days earlier that no decision had yet been made helped maintain strategic misdirection. The mission was reportedly planned by a small group of senior military officials under strict secrecy.
“Our B-2s went in and out and back without the world knowing at all,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said.
“The idea that multiple B-2s can penetrate air defenses undetected sends a terrifying message to adversaries,” Jamali said, noting that the exercise, regardless of how badly the targets in Iran were damaged, sends a strong signal to U.S. rivals like China, Russia and North Korea.
“You may not even know the aircraft was there until long after it strikes. It’s not just a military capability—it’s a psychological weapon.”
Old Tools, Modern Precision
The strike—and Israel’s concurrent use of F-35s to great effect in the skies over Iran—has reaffirmed the value of manned stealth aircraft at a time when some of the biggest Silicon Valley voices are calling them obsolete relics.
“There’s a significant difference between today’s military operations and what might be in the art of the possible 5–15 years down the road as AI continues to evolve,” said Guy Snodgrass, a former Navy fighter pilot and Pentagon strategist. “In today’s world, manned stealth aircraft like Lockheed’s F-35 are the premier tools.”
Snodgrass cited the fighter’s stealth profile, networked sensors, and pilot adaptability as crucial in contested airspace—capabilities visible throughout Israel’s offensive. “Their aircraft were able to pierce Iran’s aerial defense systems with impunity,” he said. “That permeability has now allowed Israel to peel back Iran’s defenses, and it seems there’s not much Iran can do to stop them.”
While Musk and others argue that human pilots are soon to be things of the past, Deptula said the complexity of missions like Operation Midnight Hammer tells a different story.
“There are enormous limitations to autonomous and uncrewed systems when you’re dealing with denied airspace and dynamic threats,” he said. “There’s no drone that could’ve pulled off what the B-2s just did over Iran.”
He added, “This was a mission where pilot intuition, adaptability, and training made the difference. You can’t automate that yet—not even close.”
Deptula also emphasized the broader signal the strike sent. “There’s no autonomous system that sends the same strategic message as a manned stealth bomber flying halfway around the world and striking with impunity. That’s power projection—and it’s still uniquely human.”
Still, he acknowledged the growing role of drones in modern warfare. Israeli forces, he noted, have deployed small lethal drones to suppress Iranian air defenses. “It’s a great example of taking an effects-based approach,” he said. “You match the tool to the mission.”
From B‑2 Legacy to B‑21 Future
As the debate over drones continues, the U.S. military has already begun building what comes next. And if the B-2’s performance over Iran was a reminder of manned stealth’s enduring value, its successor—the B-21 Raider—is designed to push that model even further.
Jamali said the biggest winner from the Iran operation wasn’t the White House or defense industry, but the U.S. Air Force.
“The B-2 is set to be replaced by the B-21, and the success of this mission makes a powerful case for continuing both platforms,” he said. “It demonstrates that these bombers are not just relevant—they’re essential.”
That future—embodied by the B‑21—is already airborne. The U.S. plans to build at least 100 of the next-generation stealth bombers, with the first aircraft already in flight testing. Designed to penetrate modern air defenses and carry massive ordnance, the B-21 features open-architecture systems that allow for rapid upgrades as technologies evolve.
As sudden and silent as the Midnight Hammer strike was, it also served as a live-fire preview of the B‑21’s strategic promise—bridging the gap between human-controlled precision and automated resilience.
“While drones will expand in utility,” Deptula said, “the strategic edge will still rely on the unique combination of stealth, precision, human adaptability, and strategic messaging that only manned bombers like the B-2—and soon the B-21—can provide.”
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