What are bunker busters: Everything to know about the $500M bombs
A 15-ton “bunker buster” bomb was likely needed to destroy the last untouched nuclear facility in Iran, and only the US had one.
Such a powerful weapon — the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal — was needed because the target, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, is built some 300 feet inside a mountain near the city of Qom, two hours south of Tehran.
The heavyweight explosive is known as a GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and was designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force.
A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility on Feb. 12, 2025.
The heavyweight explosive is known as a GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and was designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force
Its huge weight means it can only be delivered with a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber — a jet that Israel’s air force does not possess.
“The United States controls the bomber and the bomb,” John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point military academy, recently told The Post.