‘Zero warning': How the US military wiped out Iran's hidden coastal missile bases

Iran spent decades constructing a massive, heavily fortified network of anti-ship missile bases carved directly into its coastal mountains. These hidden facilities posed an immediate and severe threat to the USD 1.2 trillion worth of global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

To neutralise this threat, US Central Command executed a massive, simultaneous aerial bombardment targeting multiple coastal facilities. The operation utilised both Navy fighter jets and Air Force strategic bombers to overwhelm the Iranian air defence grid.

Standard munitions cannot penetrate the thick rock and reinforced concrete protecting these subterranean launch sites. Instead, the US military deployed massive 5,000-pound precision-guided 'bunker buster' bombs designed to burrow deep underground before detonating.

Before the main bombs fell, US electronic warfare aircraft and stealth fighters systematically wiped out Iran's coastal radar relays. This initial blinding strike ensured the underground missile crews could not track or target the incoming American bombers.

The bunker-buster munitions successfully breached the fortified doors and ventilation shafts of the coastal mountain bases. The resulting underground explosions triggered massive secondary detonations as hidden caches of Iranian cruise missiles were instantly vaporised.

Alongside the bunker strikes, US drones and satellites tracked down the mobile missile transporters attempting to flee the coastal zone. Laser-guided munitions from F/A-18E Super Hornets destroyed these vehicles before they could reach alternative hiding spots.

This devastating campaign effectively stripped Iran of its primary anti-access and area denial capabilities along the coastline. With the missile bases destroyed, the US and its allies successfully restored freedom of navigation through the critical Middle Eastern waterways.