In order for 125 airplanes and 14 bombs to arrive in Iran, the US used one of the oldest tactics of war: perfidy

The baptized as Hammer operationhe greater furtive attack From the United States against several of Iran’s critical facilities, it was based on a highly sophisticated tactical architecture, one where, above any other trick, the key was the total surprise. To do this, the United States began with one of the most tactics old and effective of war. It all started 48 hours before the offensive, when Trump It gave two weeks To “avoid” the attack.

Perfidy. Those two weeks They never existed in the head of the United States, and Israel knew and few more actors. In fact, most European allies were trying to Find a dialogue A few hours before knowing the operation that was underway. From the diplomatic and ethical point of view, Washington was carrying out a form of political perfidysince Iran was participating in conversations that the United States used for the secret offensive.

The maneuver also followed a strategy of classical military deception, a series of lures and public messages that, as we will see, avoided any suspicion while secretly prepared one of the most brutal offensives that are remembered in the history of modern wars.

The hammer operation. The aerial offensive launched by the United States against the main nuclear sites of Iran represents not only the greatest operational use in the history of the BB-2 Spirit bomberbut also a unprecedented sample of tactical coordination, strategic deception and technological capacity accumulated throughout years of preparation.

The attack included use for the first time in combat of the GBU-57/B antibunker pump Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), of 13,600 kilograms, specifically designed to destroy deeply buried and protected facilities Like Fordow. In total, 14 of these bombs were thrown on Fordow and Natanz, while more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles They hit In Isfahánthrown from a submarine Ohio class nuclear positioned in the area of ​​operations of the US central command.

The art of deception. It all started on Saturday morning, when flight observers They detected several bombers furtive B-2 Spirit taking off from the Whiteman Air Base, in Misuri, and heading Towards the Pacificwhich seemed to indicate a display towards Guam or missions related to Asia.

However, this movement was a decoy: the true bombers in charge of the attack departed shortly after In the opposite directioneast, in mode completely stealthycrossing huge distances without being detected until you reach the Iranian airspace.

The surprise. As we said, the key to operational success was the Deliberate deception: both the visible deployment towards the Pacific and Trump’s statements in the previous days, where he claimed that he would take up to two weeks to evaluate a possible intervention, created the false perception that there was still diplomatic margin.

In fact, on Saturday morning, senior officials indicated that it had not been issued No order of attack, reinforcing that illusion. Then, on the afternoon of that same day, from his private club in New Jersey, Trump gave the final order. According to A senior official From the administration, the objective was precisely “to create a situation in which no one would expect.”

The B2. The main actors were those seven bombers that left in stealth to the east from Misuri. Throughout a 18 -hour flight, with multiple repayings in the air, a profile of minimum communication.

Synchronization with escorts, fourth and fifth generation fighters, intelligence aircraft, electronic warfare and air replacement It was millimeter: The fighters released preventive fire to neutralize Iranian air defense threats before the bombers cross the enemy airspace, without detecting hostile activity. The full air package exceeded 125 aircraftincluding platforms such as F-35, F-22, EA-18G Growler and possibly not revealed active.

Objectives achieved. Between 6:40 and 7:05 pm Washington time (2:10 to 2:35 am in Iran), all nuclear objectives FThey were shocked. The bombings on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahán used 75 precision weapons guided and achieved what the Pentagon described as “severe destruction” of infrastructure.

The first satellite images Disseminated by Maxar Technologies showed craters of more than five meters, layers of bluish ash and tunnel entries blocked by landslides. Although Iran did not fire a single antialea defense or deployed fighters, the blow was deep and difficult to reverse in the short term, particularly in Fordow, buried under a mountain and considered so far impenetrable.

Hidden cooperation. As we indicated, if someone knew what the United States had in hand, It was Israel. Before the attack, the United States shared with Israel a Systems list of air defense that wanted to neutralize, and the previous Israeli campaign facilitated the opening of the air corridor for the B-2.

Coordination included the shared use of intelligence and operational synchronization (in that sense, The F-35 Israeliswith their ability to collect data, they played a key role in the collection of information on Iranian defenses). During the previous weeks, they were made Large -scale exercises that simulated similar missions, and They invested years in the development of technical capacities to integrate armament, sensors, furtive platforms and unified command in a single operating flow.

Operation closed? It is one of the great unknowns. Despite the magnitude of the attack, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that the operation does not mark the start of an open campaign, but A punctual action With a clear objective: neutralize Iranian nuclear capacity. Even so, he acknowledged that US forces remain on maximum alert to possible reprisals.

In His words“This was not an attempt to change regime; it was a precise operation to defend our national interests and those of our allies.” For now, Iran has limited its responses to new attacks on Israel, but senior Iranian officials already They have declared your right to respond directly against US interests, and concerns about a regional escalation, including a possible Ormuz Strait closure or short -range missile attacks and drones, They are still latent.

Unprecedented evolution. Beyond the immediate impact on the Iranian nuclear program, the operation represents the culminating point of decades of doctrinal developmenttechnological and operational. The ability to coordinate a multilevel force of More than 125 aircraftto cross hostile airspace without being detected and achieve perfect synchronization with missiles launched from a submarine, while cheating analysts and allies, shows military maturity that transcends The purely warlike.

If you want also, we are facing a demonstration of Surgical power In the 21st century: a silent, devastating, fleeting operation … but with lasting geopolitical reverberations.

Without victory. Be as it may, and despite the effectiveness of the attack, both military and analysts recognize that the objective has only been achieved partially. No doubt, ForDow has been severely damaged, but, from what has been slipped, it has not been destroyed full.

Not just that. The Iranian nuclear program, although beaten, not It has been annihilated. The resilience of technical knowledge, the possible existence of clandestine facilities, and the will of the Iranian regime of rebuilding the lost, keep all possibilities open. In other words, the Hammer operation It has been, without a doubt, an unprecedented military operating milestone. But it does not mark the end of a threat, but the opening of a new phase: more unstable, calculated, and possibly more dangerous.

Image | USAF Maxar

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