Slamming the Door Shut - Operation Midnight Hammer by Rick Herter

Seven B-2 Spirit bombers from the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings sit staged on the taxiway at Whiteman Air Force Base on an inky black night. Engines running, bomb bays loaded, and cockpits glowing, the crews complete their final checklists. At 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, June 21, 2025, the first bomber roars down the runway, followed by six more in a deadly strike package. Moments earlier, eight additional B-2s departed westbound toward Guam as a diversion, while the final seven turned east, radio silent, beginning a 36-hour mission into history.

Meanwhile, at Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, scientists, technicians, and security personnel work deep underground beneath layers of rock, steel, and reinforced concrete. As Saturday night falls, an American air armada of bombers, fighters, and tankers approaches Iranian airspace undetected.

At 2:10 a.m., bomb bay doors open high above the targets and the first of fourteen 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators drops toward the earth at more than Mach 1. Designed to penetrate layers of concrete and rock before detonating, the bombs strike with devastating precision. Over the next 25 minutes, the seven B-2 Spirits attack Fordow and Natanz with overwhelming, destructive force.

In Slamming the Door Shut, the final two B-2s, having released their bombs, escape the impact zone and are roughly five miles from Fordow as the facility erupts in a final, cataclysmic explosion. The twelve GBU-57s dropped on Fordow deliver 360,000 pounds of steel and explosive force, destroying in minutes what took Iran decades to build.

Almost as quickly as they appeared, the Spirits leave Iranian airspace and begin the long flight westward back to Whiteman.

Operation Midnight Hammer ranks among the boldest bombing missions in military history. The crews flew a 36-hour round trip in complete secrecy, delivering nearly half a million pounds of ordnance with pinpoint accuracy before returning safely to the continental United States. In this historic mission, the crews of the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings may have prevented nuclear blackmail—and possibly nuclear war.

While recreating the attack over Fordow, Rick Herter worked closely with former 509th Bomb Wing commander Colonel Keith “Ghost” Butler. For nearly a year, they studied the mission’s technical and historical details. The landscape below was recreated from satellite imagery taken before and after the strike, while flight direction, speed, and altitude were calculated to place the viewer just off the nose of the fifth bomber at the moment of the final detonation. At the painting’s unveiling in Washington, D.C. honoring the mission participants, one attendee remarked, “That’s exactly as it looked.”

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About Rick's Masterwork Canvases:

Using the most modern Giclee’ printing technology and under direct supervision of the artist, Rick has produced 100 fine art canvases. Each canvas is faithfully reproduced to have the look, feel and sheen of Ricks original oil painting of, Slamming the door Shut. Each canvas is signed and numbered and included in your purchase is a complimentary print of Rick’s original graphite compositional drawing of Slamming the Door Shut.

As an additional option you may choose to have Rick custom oil embellish your canvas making it a one-of-a-kind work of art. Rick will hand paint additional touches of color and detail accenting in oil paint over different areas of the Giclee’ canvas. When dry, Rick will then varnish those areas for the long-lasting enjoyment of your custom piece of art.