Latest news with #GBU57
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US bunker-busting GBU-57 in Iran: experts in China assess combat debut
Chinese military analysts have closely followed Saturday's US strikes on Iranian facilities, and especially the bombs used – the GBU-57, a powerful 'bunker buster' designed to penetrate deeply buried targets. While praising the success of the B-2's long-range delivery and the bunker buster's performance, they also pointed out the limitations in its effectiveness, especially against sites like Fordow that are deep underground. Mainland China is believed to have the world's most extensive underground bunker systems and its own bunker-busting weapons , as well as ambitions to target facilities, including those deep within the mountains of Taiwan. What did the US bomber strike entail and how is the action viewed by Chinese military analysts? And what is China's approach to the development of its own bunker-busting arsenal? Combat debut A total of 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) were dropped by seven B-2 stealth bombers in the early hours of Sunday local time, striking Iran's heavily fortified Fordow nuclear site as well as facilities at Natanz.
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Used Its Biggest Bunker Busters in Warfare for the First Time
A GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri. (U.S. Air Force/AP)
India Today
5 days ago
- India Today
Why the B-2 and GBU-57 combo is the most terrifying thing in the sky
One flies under radar. The other digs under bunkers. Together, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator make the most devastating combo in modern warfare. The US just used this silent–but–deadly pair to strike deep Iranian nuclear sites. You won't hear it coming — but you'll definitely feel it. Watch the video to learn more. #B2Spirit #GBU57 #StealthBomber #BunkerBuster #LethalCombo #MilitaryTech #USAirForce #IranStrike #MOPBomb #UltimateStrike #WordsOfWar
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is a bunker buster bomb?
President Trump is facing a critical decision on whether to use America's B-2 bombers to drop the GBU-57 bunker buster bombs on the Fordow nuclear facility, which is buried in the mountains of Iran. Doing so may be the only way to truly prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb, but it would also greatly increase U.S. involvement in the conflict and risk bringing the nation into a war in the Middle East. Israel has neither the GBU-57 bomb or the B-2 bombers to fly them. Their use is seen as critical for hitting the Fordow facility. While a bunker buster bomb is a broad term to refer to bombs designed to penetrate deep below the surface before exploding, Trump is deciding whether to utilize the latest GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb currently residing in the American arsenal. The latest bomb delivers 10 times more explosive power than its predecessor, the BLU-109, according to the Air Force. The warhead is a large, GPS-guided, penetrating weapon with the ability to attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels, according to the latest report from the director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOTE), part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It is known to penetrate about 200 feet below the surface before exploding. The MOP is critical to taking out highly fortified targets buried under mountainous areas, such as those found in Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea, according to The War Zone. The guided weapon can impact the surface above its target with a high degree of accuracy. The only way to deliver the bomb is through a U.S. B-2 stealth bomber, which can hold 40,000 pounds. However, the U.S. Air Force said it has successfully tested the B-2 loaded with two of the GBU-57A/B bunker busters, which, in total, weigh about 60,000 pounds. Each bomb is about 20 1/2 feet long, according to the Air Force. The warhead's case is made from a special high-performance steel alloy, according to another report from the DOTE. The bomb's design allows for a large explosive payload while maintaining the integrity of the penetrator case during impact. The MOP is the most powerful, deeply burrowing nonnuclear bunker buster in the world. Development of the bomb began in 2004. In 2009, Boeing became the prime contractor to complete MOP/Aircraft integration. As of 2015, Boeing had delivered at least 20 of the bombs. While the exact size of the current MOP stockpile is not known, it's understood to be relatively small. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
News24
5 days ago
- Politics
- News24
B-2s and bunker busters: Massive US bombs used in combat for first time in Iran strikes
A powerful US bunker-busting bomb was used in combat for the first time when Washington struck Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Israel had carried out a week of air strikes on Iran, but does not possess the GBU-57 – a 13,600kg weapon viewed as necessary to reach the most deeply buried facilities – or the aircraft needed to deploy it. AFP Details of US plan to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, told journalists on Sunday that Washington's forces dropped 14 of the bombs in the massive operation aimed at knocking out Tehran's nuclear programme. What are its capabilities? The US military says the GBU-57 – also named Massive Ordnance Penetrator – is designed to penetrate up to 60 metres underground before exploding. This differs from missiles or bombs that typically detonate their payload near or on impact. Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images 'To defeat these deeply buried targets, these weapons need to be designed with rather thick casings of steel, hardened steel, to sort of punch through these layers of rock,' said Masao Dahlgren, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based research centre. The 6.6-metre-long GBU-57 also has a specialised fuse as 'you need an explosive that's not going to immediately explode under that much shock and pressure,' Dahlgren said. Caine said on Sunday it was too early to comment on what remains of Iran's nuclear programme, but that 'initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction'. How is it deployed? The only aircraft capable of deploying the GBU-57 is the B-2 Spirit, a stealth bomber. With their long-range capabilities, B-2s departing from the United States 'are able to fly all the way to the Middle East to do bombing runs. That's been done before,' Dahlgren said. AP The US employed seven B-2s in the Iran strikes – aircraft that can fly 6 000 nautical miles (9 600km) without refuelling, and which are designed to 'penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defences and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended targets,' according to the US military. 'This was the largest B-2 operational strike in US history and the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown,' Caine said. Satellite image (c) 2025 Maxar Technologies Several B-2s proceeded west over the Pacific as a decoy while the bombers that would take part in the strikes headed east – a 'deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders,' the general said.
