Timeline: How US conducted bombings on Iranian nuclear sites

(NewsNation) — As Operation "Midnight Hammer" got underway on Saturday, a group of B-2 bombers took off from their base in Missouri and were noticed heading out toward the Pacific island of Guam, in what experts saw as possible pre-positioning for any U.S. decision to strike Iran.

But they were decoys.

Saturday night, President Donald Trump announced that three Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed by bunker-busting bombers and on Sunday morning, Pentagon officials provided a detailed breakdown of the operation.

See the timeline below:

Decoys deployed at midnight

The B-2 bombers headed to Guam were decoys, according to Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Dan Caine.

The real group of seven bat-winged, B-2 stealth bombers flew east undetected for 18 hours, keeping communications to a minimum, refueling in mid-air, the U.S. military revealed on Sunday.

A Pentagon-provided map of the flight path taken by B-2 stealth bombers indicates that their approach to Iran took them over the Mediterranean and then over Israel, Jordan and Iraq.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JUNE 22: An operational timeline of a strike on Iran is displayed following a news conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on June 22, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. U.S. President Donald Trump gave an address to the nation last night after three Iranian nuclear facilities were struck by the U.S. military. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Bombers enter Iranian airspace

At about 5 p.m. ET Saturday, the bombers neared Iranian airspace and a U.S. submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. U.S. fighter jets flew as decoys in front of the bombers to sweep for any Iranian fighter jets and missiles.

The B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-busting bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds. The operation involved over 125 U.S. military aircraft, according to the Pentagon.

Iranian nuclear sites 'completely and fully obliterated'

At about 10 p.m. ET Saturday, President Donald Trump made a televised address from the White House announcing that the combination of strikes “completely and fully obliterated” three Iranian nuclear sites. However, U.S. defense officials said an assessment of the damage wrought by the attack still was ongoing.