A War Announced on Social Media
At 2:00 AM Eastern Time on February 28, 2026, most Americans were asleep. Those who happened to check their phones found something extraordinary: a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump announcing that the United States had begun military operations against Iran. No primetime address to the nation. No formal press conference. No prior public warning.
The strikes had already begun.
Within hours, explosions were reported across Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Natanz, Isfahan, and dozens of other locations. The Islamic Republic — with its nuclear facilities, its military infrastructure, its oil terminals and naval bases — was under coordinated attack by the most powerful military alliance in history.
Operation Epic Fury had begun.
What Is Operation Epic Fury?
Operation Epic Fury is the codename for the joint US-Israel military campaign against Iran launched on February 28, 2026. It is distinct from — and far more expansive than — Operation Midnight Hammer, the more limited strikes carried out in June 2025 that targeted specific Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
Where Midnight Hammer was surgical, Epic Fury is comprehensive. Its stated objectives include the destruction of Iran's nuclear program, the degradation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elimination of Iran's long-range missile and drone capabilities, and the establishment of what US and Israeli commanders have called "enduring air superiority" over Iranian airspace.
By day eight, the numbers were staggering. More than 2,500 Israeli strikes. Over 1,000 US-designated targets hit. At least 80% of Iran's air defense systems reportedly destroyed. And a price tag that is reshaping the political conversation in Washington.
The Cost: $891 Million Per Day
War is expensive. But Operation Epic Fury has reached a level of expenditure that is forcing even hawkish members of Congress to ask hard questions.
Independent estimates place the cost of the campaign's first 100 hours at approximately $3.7 billion — roughly $891 million per day. Most of that cost was unbudgeted, meaning it was not included in any existing Defense Department appropriations. The Pentagon is expected to submit an emergency supplemental spending request, and the political battle over funding is already beginning.
To put that number in context: the entire US military budget for a typical year is around $800 billion. Epic Fury is burning through more than a third of a percent of that annual budget every single day.
The costs break down across several categories. Tomahawk cruise missiles, which cost approximately $2 million each, have been launched in the hundreds. GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — the enormous bunker-busting bombs designed specifically for hardened underground targets like Iran's nuclear facilities — cost roughly $3.5 million per unit. And the ongoing cost of maintaining carrier strike groups, aerial refueling operations, and missile defense systems in the region adds millions more per day.
The Weapons of Epic Fury
Understanding this war means understanding its weapons. Operation Epic Fury has involved more than 20 different weapons systems across air, sea, land, and missile defense forces.
On offense, the US and Israel have relied on a combination of stealth aircraft including the B-2 Spirit bomber, F-35 fighter jets, and carrier-based F/A-18s. These platforms deliver a range of munitions from precision-guided bombs to the aforementioned Massive Ordnance Penetrators that are specifically designed to destroy deeply buried and hardened targets — the kind Iran spent decades building to protect its nuclear program.
At sea, US Navy destroyers and submarines have provided a continuous stream of Tomahawk launches, allowing for sustained pressure without the risk of manned aircraft in heavily contested airspace.
On defense, the coalition has had to manage an extraordinary challenge. Iran has responded with over 500 ballistic missiles and nearly 2,000 drones. Defending against these two threats requires fundamentally different systems. Ballistic missiles, which can travel at speeds of 4,000 to 15,000 miles per hour, require Patriot and THAAD interceptors — each intercept costing between $3 million and $10 million. Iran's Shahed drones, by contrast, travel at just 120 miles per hour — slow enough to be engaged by a much wider range of systems, including traditional air defense artillery and even short-range interceptors.
Coalition partners in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE have been critical to managing the defensive burden, collectively intercepting hundreds of cruise missiles and over a thousand drones in the first week alone.
Iran's Response: Missiles, Drones, and Regional Chaos
Iran did not accept these strikes passively. Its response has been wide-ranging, targeting not just Israel and US military assets but regional states that host American forces.
The rate of Iranian ballistic missile launches has begun to decline as the week has progressed — a sign, according to intelligence analysts, that Iran's missile stockpiles and launch infrastructure are being depleted by both Israeli strikes and the pace of their own operations. But the threat has not disappeared.
Kuwait's international airport was struck by Iranian drones. A government building in Kuwait City was hit in a separate attack. Central Beirut saw a hotel struck, killing at least four people. Iran's navy has threatened any vessel attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, effectively paralyzing one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints.
The regional spillover has drawn in countries that tried to stay neutral. Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave reported drone strikes that Iran officially denied. Countries across the Persian Gulf found themselves caught between American military pressure and Iranian retaliation.
The Political Storm in Washington
Back in Washington, the war has ignited a political firestorm. Trump's decision to announce military operations via social media post — with only the Gang of Eight leadership in Congress notified shortly beforehand — has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who argue the constitutional requirement for Congressional authorization was bypassed.
The administration argues that existing authorizations for the use of military force, combined with the president's commander-in-chief powers, provide sufficient legal basis. Critics disagree. The debate is heading toward the courts, though legal challenges to ongoing military operations rarely succeed in time to affect events on the ground.
Meanwhile, the economic fallout is becoming a major political issue. With crude oil prices surging past $90 per barrel — up from $67 the day before the war began — American consumers are feeling the impact at the gas pump. Heading into the 2026 midterm elections, the combination of military costs and energy price spikes is creating political vulnerabilities that Trump's opponents are already beginning to exploit.
International Reaction: China's Warning
The international community has watched Operation Epic Fury with a mixture of alarm, condemnation, and careful calculation. China's foreign minister Wang Yi issued one of the most pointed warnings, calling for an immediate end to hostilities and cautioning that the "flames of war" risk spreading to engulf the entire region.
China's intervention is not purely humanitarian. President Xi Jinping is scheduled to host Trump in Beijing later this month for high-stakes economic talks — discussions that were already complicated by ongoing trade tensions and are now further complicated by a war that threatens the global oil supply on which China's economy depends.
The European Union has called for a ceasefire and offered to facilitate negotiations. Russia has condemned the strikes. But meaningful international pressure has been limited by geopolitical divisions and the speed at which events are moving.
What Victory Looks Like — And Whether It's Achievable
The fundamental strategic question surrounding Operation Epic Fury is one that military planners and analysts are debating intensely: what does success actually look like?
Destroying nuclear facilities is achievable — it has apparently been achieved, to some degree. But eliminating the knowledge and intent to rebuild a nuclear program requires either a change of government or a change of ideology. Neither can be bombed into existence.
The history of military campaigns in the Middle East provides sobering context. Destroying infrastructure is dramatically easier than determining what comes next. And Iran — with its population of 90 million, its deep reserve of nationalist sentiment, and its decades of experience operating under siege conditions — is not a country that historically responds to external pressure by surrendering its core interests.
Operation Epic Fury may be the most expensive, technologically sophisticated military campaign in the region's history. Whether it achieves its strategic objectives is a question that will be answered not in the first eight days, but in the years that follow.
Published: March 8, 2026 | Category: Iran War, Military Operations, US Foreign Policy
Tags: Operation Epic Fury, Iran war 2026, US Israel military campaign, Iran strikes, IRGC, Strait of Hormuz, war cost, ballistic missiles, Middle East war