US Deploys Bunker-Busters on Iran Nuclear Locations

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    WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has successfully deployed specially designed bombs on two Iranian nuclear sites, according to senior Pentagon officials. These bombs, developed over more than 15 years of intelligence gathering and weapons development, were tailored specifically for these facilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed confidence that the attacks hit their targets precisely as intended.

    Gen. Caine provided detailed insight into the extensive planning and engineering behind the “bunker-buster” bombs, which were created to penetrate deeply into fortified underground sites. Although he did not directly address President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear program had been completely eliminated, he highlighted the effectiveness of this military operation.

    The conception of these bombs, known as the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, was triggered by a classified briefing on a significant construction effort identified within the mountainous regions of Iran. This construction was later confirmed as the Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant, believed to have begun in 2006 and publicly acknowledged by Tehran in 2009.

    Since then, a dedicated team within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency focused intensively on Fordo, examining geological data, construction methods, and equipment movements around the site. Their studies concluded that existing U.S. ordnance was insufficient for such a mission, leading the Pentagon to develop a new solution.

    According to Caine, numerous experts were involved in modeling and simulations to perfect the bombs, which ended up utilizing significant supercomputer resources in the process. The bombs, weighing 30,000 pounds, consist of steel, explosives, and a fuse programmed for precise timing, allowing them to penetrate deeply before detonation.

    These weapons underwent extensive testing and refinement to ensure they could destroy mock facilities similar to those in Iran, breaking through underground pathways to obliterate essential infrastructure. Iran’s protective measures, including large concrete barriers over ventilation shafts, were carefully assessed in planning the attack.

    The operation involved seven B-2 stealth bombers equipped with the Massive Ordnance Penetrators. The attack plan targeted two main ventilation routes into Fordo’s underground facilities, using a series of bomb drops to first clear concrete obstacles and then disrupt critical operations within the site.

    Besides Fordo, additional attacks were directed at Iran’s primary nuclear site in Natanz. Confirmation of detonation was visually reported by aircraft crew, describing the explosions as some of the brightest they had ever seen.

    Despite the success in targeting these facilities, uncertainties persist about the status of Iran’s highly enriched uranium. Defense Secretary Hegseth has not confirmed whether the uranium necessary for nuclear weapons development was present or removed before the strike.

    “I’m not aware of any intelligence that I’ve reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be — moved or otherwise,” Hegseth mentioned, leaving some aspects of Iran’s nuclear program shrouded in mystery.