9 hours agoWhat is “bunker bomb” that the US can hit Iran with?
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)One of the weapons the US can use in Iran to destroy nuclear facilities is a 30,000-pound ammunition (13607 kg) designed to reach bunkers or underground targets. Using a powerful US “bunker” against Iran's nuclear facilities continues to weigh on the country's conflict with Israel. CNN reported [...]
Using a powerful US “bunker” against Iran's nuclear facilities continues to weigh on the country's conflict with Israel.
CNN reported that US President Donald Trump is thinking of using military assets to hit Iranian nuclear facilities and that he “is not in the mood to negotiate with Iran”.
It becomes known that one of the possible weapons the American Army has available, GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetator (MOP) could reach one of Iran's leading nuclear sites, which are buried deep in a mountain.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on state television on Thursday that Iran “would have to use its means to teach aggressors a lesson and protect its national security and national interests”, if the US decides to intervene in conflict.
What's bunker bomb?
GBU-57 MPOP is a weapons system designed to attack “strong and deeply buried targets such as bunkers and tunnels”, according to a 2024 American Air Force report.
A sheet of facts archived by the American Agency for Defence Reduction Reduction (DTRA) says it is a “Desert bomb”, which is approximately 20.5m long.
DRA said the weapon could hold over 5,300 pounds (2,404 kg) of explosive material and offer “10 times” more explosive power than its predecessor, BLU-109, writes euronewsHe's following in on Telegrafie.
Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) contracted Boeing for the first time in 2004 with an initial contract worth $30m (26.2m euros).
The weapon took place in three stages, the DTRA continued.
Air Force took its first test bombs in 2011, according to a report by San Francisco Chronicle.
The vehicle was tested at Missile White Sands Poligion, a military base in the American state of New Mexico.
Why would the United States use the bomb?
The transport plant Fordo (FFEP) is buried deep under a mountain near Qom, Iran, and is believed to be one of Iran's main uranium enrichment facilities for its nuclear weapons programme, according to Heather Williams, director of the nuclear affairs project at the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) with headquarters.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the IAEA, said 16 June that so far there is no damage in Fordo's country, unlike the one in Natanz, where the pilot fuel enrichment facility was destroyed.
A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that 166.6kg of uranium enriched 60% of the total 408.6kg Iran has in that enrichment rate was produced at Fordow.
Uranium should be enriched to approximately 90% to become a nuclear weapon, but experts have said earlier that Iran could create 60%-rich weapons.
Otherwise, Israel lacks ammunition to destroy the Formo itself, but “multiple attacks” by American GBU-57 mounted on B-2 “bombers can destroy the” facility, according to Williams.
But if Trump decides to use the GBU-57, it could provide direct support to Israel and have the potential to scale and draw the US into another war in the region”. /Periscope/
