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Inside The Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs Chairman News Conference

ecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine conduct a press briefing at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., June 26, 2025 (Photo: Department of Defense , DOD/ Kashif Basharat)

By Akerele Christabel

June 30, 2025
4:46 pm
Los Angeles, CA

In the aftermath of what will now be known as the 12-Day war, US Joint Chiefs chairman, Dan Caine, has openly lauded American service men for their roles in the conflict. The briefing occurred in two segments, the first dealing with the Air Defenders in the US base at Udeid. The second segment of the news conference was concerned about Operation Midnight Hammer – the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow. On Monday, 23rd June, 2025, warnings showed that Iran planned to attack American bases in the region. The Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which serves as the headquarters for US forces in the Middle East, soon emerged as one of the targets for an Iranian bombarding. In response to the looming attack, the brass opted to move

On Monday, 23rd June, 2025, warnings showed that Iran planned to attack American bases in the region. The Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which serves as the headquarters for US forces in the Middle East, soon emerged as one of the targets for an Iranian bombarding. In response to the looming attack, the brass opted to move most personnel off base to ensure security, leaving behind a small force of 44 American soldiers in their twenties under the control of a 25-year old lieutenant.

Around 12:30 PM local time, Chairman Caine reports, Iran launches an attack that was detected by the Patriot system, leading to multiple missile interceptions. The military higher-ups had previously ordered the base to orient the missile batteries northward before the attacks arrived. In what is now seen as the largest single Patriot missile engagement in US military history, the Al-Udeid base was peppered by a combined hail of metal, debris, and fire. However, with the efforts of the relatively young, inexperienced, but determined US soldiers and their Qatari Patriot crew members.

“There was a lot of metal flying around between taking missiles being hit by Patriots, boosters being hit by Patriots, the Patriots flying around, and debris from the Patriots hitting the ground. A lot of metal flying around. Yet U.S. Air Defenders had only seconds to make complex decisions with strategic impact. These awesome humans, along with their Qatari brothers and sisters in arms, stood between a salvo and the safety of Al Udeid. They are unsung heroes of the 21st Century United States Army, and I know a lot of you have seen the videos online and the excitement as the Patriots departed launch areas and went up and guided. This really demonstrates the combat capability and capacity of our Army Air Defenders. Simply stated, they absolutely crushed it. If you’d flip it over.” Chairman Caine said.

The second part of the briefing dealt with the offensive aspect of the US’ involvement in the 12-Day War. The Chairman described the ideation of the GBU-57 Ordnance Penetrator weapon, the major bombs used for the attack on Fordow. According to him, there is an organization in the U.S. called the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), which he claims is the world’s leading expert on deeply buried underground targets.

In 2009, a Defense Threat Reduction Agency officer, whose name was withheld for security reasons, was brought into a vault at an undisclosed location and briefed on something going on in Iran. He was shown photos and highly classified intelligence of a major construction project in the mountains of Iran. He was tasked to study this facility and work with the intelligence community to understand it and joined by an additional teammate. For the next 15 years, the duo absorbed all details regarding their target – Fordow.

“(They) studied geology, watched Iranians dig it out, he watched construction, weather, discarded material, geology, construction materials, where materials came from, looked at vents, exhaust, electrical system, environmental control system, every nook, every crater, every piece of equipment going in and every piece going out.” Chairman Caine said.

During the course of their research on Fordow, the DTRA team found out that there were no existing weapons with the firepower to destroy the nuclear base. They had to work with industry and other tacticians to develop the GBU-57. The GBU-57 is a 30,000-pound weapon that can be dropped only by the B-2. It is comprised of steel, explosive, and a fuse programmed bespoke to achieve a particular effect inside the target. Each weapon had a unique desired impact angle, arrival, final heading, and fuse setting. The fuse tells the bomb when to function. A longer delay in a fuse, the deeper the weapon will penetrate and drive into the target.

“The video I’m about to show you is a culmination of over 15 years of development and testing, as I said, hundreds of test shots on various models. This is one weapon, so if you take a view of this as five additional, you will get a sense of what this looks like.” Chairman Caine said while showing a video clip of the weapon.

In the raid on Fordow, the mission operators employed a total of six GBU-57 Ordnance Penetrator Weapon, a mass of firepower they considered strong enough to blow up the highly reinforced nuclear facility. The mission planners focused on two ventilation shafts as the primary point of entry. The Iranians anticipated this and reinforrced the shafts with concrete. The mission planners accounted for this and tasked the first weapon with forcibly removing the concrete cap. Weapons two, three, four, five were tasked to enter the main shaft, move down into the complex at greater than 1000 feet per second, and explode in the mission space. Weapons number six was designed as a flex weapon to allow the operators to cover if one of the preceding jets or one of the preceding weapons did not work.

The video on the screen shows the weapons penetrating deeply into the mission space without creating surface craters, as they are designed to detonate underground. All six weapons at each vent of Fordow hit their intended targets. The bomb’s damage comes from blast, fragmentation, and over-pressure, with the primary kill mechanism being over pressure and blast waves destroying critical hardware inside the tunnels. The damage assessment was based on extensive modeling, emphasizing the cumulative effect of multiple weapons detonating simultaneously.

The last part of the news conference was devoted to thanking the crew members of the bomber jets, most of who were graduates of the Air Force Weapons School in Nevada and who ranked from Captain to Colonel.

“ One last story about people. Crews went to work on Friday. They kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when or if they would be home. Late Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening, and on Sunday, when those jets returned from Whiteman, their families were there, flags flying and tears flowing. I have chills literally talking about this. Jets rejoined into a formation of four airplanes followed by a formation of three and came overhead Whiteman proudly in a traffic pattern, pitching to land right over the base and landing to incredible cheers of their families who sacrifice and serve right alongside their family members”.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Caine wrapped up the news conference with an assurance that the American Joint Force will continue to think, train, test, and learn. He also included a thinly veiled warning to foes around the world, telling them that the US DTRA has eyes on them.