The United States has hurled its lumbering Cold War giant back into the centre of modern warfare, as B‑52 Stratofortress bombers launched deep strikes on Iran’s ballistic‑missile network in what commanders call the most extensive long‑range raid of the conflict so far.
Taking off from distant bases and refuelling mid‑air, the B‑52s skirted Iran’s heaviest air‑defence belts, unleashing volleys of standoff cruise missiles at launch fields, underground “missile cities,” fuel depots and radar farms spread across western and central Iran. Infrared and satellite imagery reviewed by Western analysts show scorched pads, collapsed access tunnels and chains of secondary explosions as warhead bunkers and propellant stores detonated.
US Central Command says the strikes were aimed at Khorramshahr‑, Ghadr‑ and Kheybar‑class missile hubs “directly tied” to barrages on Israel and American bases, boasting that key nodes of Iran’s long‑range arsenal have been “severely degraded.” One officer called the mission “textbook airpower — 1950s metal delivering 21st‑century precision.”
Tehran offers a starkly different picture. Iranian officials insist many launchers were dispersed before impact and vow that reserve sites will continue firing, even as local footage shows burning convoys, shattered support buildings and dazed residents sweeping glᴀss from homes near targeted complexes. Air‑defence crews have been ordered to full alert, and Revolutionary Guard commanders are threatening retaliation on US carriers and Gulf bases.
For allies and adversaries watching those grainy clips of missiles streaking off B‑52 wings, one question looms: have these deep strikes finally blunted Iran’s missile threat — or simply pushed the region into a new round of escalation that no one can easily control?
