The US military used a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb for the first time in combat in strikes on Iranian nuke sites

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Business Insider

Jun 22, 2025, 8:34 AM ET


The US's "massive precision strikes" on three Iranian nuclear facilities unleashed the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-buster bomb for the first time in combat.

In a press briefing Sunday morning, Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US forces fired around 75 precision-guided weapons in total during the operation, which targeted facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. The weapons included 14 GBU-57s.

The GBU-57, designed to penetrate hardened bunkers, particularly those located deep underground, is among the heaviest and most powerful non-nuclear bombs in the US arsenal.

Here's what we know about them. The GBU-57 weighs roughly 30,000 pounds and can only be carried by the B-2 Spirit bomber. It is approximately 20.5 feet long and has a diameter of 31.5 inches. The US Air Force says the bomb is designed to target "weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities" and can penetrate up to 200 feet below ground before exploding.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-know-bunker-buster-bombs-us-reportedly-hit-iran-2025-6

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That term "bunker buster" has been used for almost 25 years related to Afghanistan and Bin Laden so had to look up what was up with this. Apparently the ones used at Tora Bora, etc., were ~5000 lb ones. This "30,000 lb" one has apparently been around since Shrub and was finally tested in 2015 under Obama (however not needed because we succeeded in getting an agreement that was subsequently blown up by 45) -

U.S. stockpiles powerful bunker-buster bombs in case Iran nuclear talks fail


By W.J. Hennigan
July 3, 2015 3:31 PM PT

Reporting from WASHINGTON — As diplomats rush to reach an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. military is stockpiling conventional bombs so powerful that strategists say they could cripple Tehran’s most heavily fortified nuclear complexes, including one deep underground.

The bunker-busting bombs are America’s most destructive munitions short of atomic weapons. At 15 tons, each is 5 tons heavier than any other bomb in the U.S. arsenal. In development for more than a decade, the latest iteration of the MOP — massive ordnance penetrator — was successfully tested on a deeply buried target this year at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The test followed upgrades to the bomb’s guidance system and electronics to stop jammers from sending it off course.

U.S. officials say the huge bombs, which have never been used in combat, are a crucial element in the White House deterrent strategy and contingency planning should diplomacy go awry and Iran seek to develop a nuclear bomb.

Obama has made it clear that he has no desire to order an attack, warning that U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s air defense network and nuclear facilities would spark a destabilizing new war in the Middle East, and would only delay Iran by several years should it choose to build a bomb. “A military solution will not fix it,” Obama told Israeli TV on June 1. An attack “would temporarily slow down an Iranian nuclear program, but it will not eliminate it.”

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