How does a bunker-buster bomb work? A closer look at the GBU-57
How does a bunker-buster bomb work? A closer look at the GBU-57
While Israel is wielding a wide array of weapons during their ongoing attacks on Iran, there is at least one which only the United States can bring to the battlespace: a bunker-busting bomb known as the GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator.
According to Department of Defense documents, the GBU-57 is a guided, penetrating weapon with the ability to reach and destroy targets in deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels. The warhead case is made from a high performance steel alloy and which allows for a large explosive payload while maintaining integrity during impact.
Here's a closer look at the heavy-duty munition, the warplane that carries it, and one potential target.
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Only U.S.-made B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are programmed to carry the GBU-57s, which weigh more than 30,000 pounds. Each B-2 based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri can hold two of the bombs.
One June 15, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter appeared on ABC News 'This Week' where host Martha Raddatz asked Leiter to talk about Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, suggesting that Israel cannot destroy the site located deep under a mountainside without U.S. assistance in the form of bunker-busting bombs. Fordo has 1,000 centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
Leiter suggested that Israel may not need to rely on the bomb Raddatz described, to achieve its aims. "We have a number of contingencies which will enable us to deal with Fordow. Not everything is a matter of taking to the skies and bombing from afar," said Leiter. "We're certain that we can set back the nuclear weapons system development within Iran for a very, very long time."
Israel's National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi offered the clearest signal yet about the goals of Israel's air campaign, telling local Channel 12 News on June 17 the military is going after the hardest target in Iran: The Fordo nuclear enrichment plant.
'This operation will not conclude without a strike on the Fordo nuclear facility,' Hanegbi said.
Read more:
Israel wants to demolish Iran's nuclear facilities. Does it need US military help?
Israel-Iran timeline: How Israeli attack and Iranian retaliation unfolded
Israel attacks Iran: See strike map, satellite images of nuclear sites
Live updates: Trump teases possible US strike as Iran supreme leader warns America
Why Israel wants U.S. 'bunker busters' for strikes on Iran's nuclear sites
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Tom Vanden Brook, Kim Hjelmgaard, Stephen J. Beard, Jennifer Borresen, and Shawn J. Sullivan, USA TODAY
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Los Angeles Times
39 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel hits an Iranian nuclear research facility and says it's preparing for a long war
TEL AVIV — Israel's military said Saturday it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks, while emphasizing it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war. Smoke rose from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, where Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, Akbar Salehi, confirmed the Israeli strikes damaged the facility but said they caused no casualties. The target was two centrifuge production sites, according to an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines to brief reporters. It was the second attack on Isfahan, which was hit in the first 24 hours of the war as part of Israel's goal to destroy Iran's nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, confirmed the latest attack. Iran launched a new wave of drones and missiles at Israel but there were no immediate reports of significant damage. A Magen David Adom rescue service official said a drone hit a two-story building in northern Israel, with no casualties. The official called it a 'small barrage' that was largely intercepted by Israel's defenses. The official estimated that Israel's military has taken out more than half of Iran's launchers. 'We're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,' he said. 'Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.' The Israeli military's chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, later said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told the army to be prepared for a 'prolonged campaign.' President Trump is weighing active U.S. military involvement in the war. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, 'I think that it would be very, very dangerous for everyone.' He spoke on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Turkey. Barring a commando raid or even a nuclear strike, Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered out of reach to all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. Trump said he would put off his decision on direct military involvement for up to two weeks. The war erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 722 people, including 285 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,500 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. One Tehran resident, Nasrin, writhed in her hospital bed as she described how a blast threw her against a wall in her apartment. 'I've had five surgeries. I think I have nothing right here that is intact,' she said Saturday. Another resident, Shahram Nourmohammadi, said he had been making deliveries when 'something blew up right in front of me' at an intersection. Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Israel's multi-tiered air defenses have shot down most of them, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but it is the only nonnuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program, but has never acknowledged it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel's military operation will continue 'for as long as it takes' to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile arsenal. Talks in Geneva on Friday failed to produce a breakthrough. European officials expressed hope for future discussions. Iran's foreign minister said he was open to further dialogue while emphasizing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continues to attack. 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again, and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,' he told reporters. No date was set for a new round of talks. For many Iranians, updates remained difficult. Internet-access advocacy group said Saturday that limited internet access had again 'collapsed.' A nationwide internet shutdown has been in place for several days. Israel's opening attack killed three of Iran's top military leaders: Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who oversaw the armed forces; Gen. Hossein Salami, who led the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and the head of the Revolutionary Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Israel's defense minister said Saturday the military has killed a Revolutionary Guard commander who financed and armed Hamas in preparation for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing 20-month war in the Gaza Strip. Iranian officials did not immediately confirm Saeed Izadi's death, but the Qom governor's office said there had been an attack on a four-story apartment building and local media reported two people had been killed. Israel also said it killed the commander of the Quds Force's weapons transfer unit, who it said was responsible for providing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Behnam Shahriyari was killed while traveling in western Iran, the military said. Iranian leaders say IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi's statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program have prompted Israel's attack. On Saturday, a senior advisor for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, Ali Larijani, said in a social media post, without elaboration, that Iran would make Grossi 'pay' once the war is over. Grossi warned Friday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. 'In case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity,' Grossi said, adding: 'This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be most serious.' Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium — at lower levels — in recent talks over its nuclear program. But Trump, like Israel, has demanded Iran end its enrichment program altogether. Rising and Mednick write for the Associated Press and reported from Dubai and Tel Aviv, respectively. AP writers Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Farnoush Amiri and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.
Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Iran Issues New Grave Warning to Trump, U.S.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Saturday that if the U.S. were to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict, the result would be 'very, very dangerous' for everybody. 'The tweets, interviews by the U.S. President, [it's] quite clear that he's talking about the U.S. leadership on these questions [of a potential U.S. involvement],' Araghchi told reporters. 'Unfortunately, we have heard that the U.S. may join in this aggression. That would be very unfortunate and I think that would be very, very dangerous for everybody.' Araghchi also claimed that Iran has 'many indications' that the U.S. has been involved in Israel's bombardments of Iran since 'day one.' These remarks come amid uncertainty and debate as to the potential U.S. involvement in the conflict and what that might look like moving forward. Trump, who has said that the U.S. has not been involved in the Israeli strikes thus far, has given himself two weeks to make the decision as to whether the U.S. will strike on Iran. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' said Trump, in a statement delivered by the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday. Leavitt went on to add that 'if there's a chance for diplomacy, the President's always going to grab it, but he's not afraid to use strength as well.' The U.S. and Iran had long been engaged in talks, in the hope of reaching a nuclear deal. Read More: How Netanyahu Pushed Trump Toward War Officials from both countries were set to meet in Oman's capital of Muscat last weekend for the next round of nuclear discussions. But Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced that, in light of the Israel-Iran active conflict, those talks would no longer be going ahead. This came after state television reported that Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei called nuclear talks with the U.S. 'meaningless.' While Trump has called for Iran to return to the table, Iranian officials appear to be reluctant. 'In order for us to come back to diplomacy, the aggression should be stopped,' Araghchi said on Saturday. 'I cannot go to negotiation with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States.' Trump has stated multiple times in the first months of his second term that a deal with Iran would have to include a ban on the nation enriching uranium—something that would allow them to produce nuclear weapons. He has also called for something more permanent than a cease-fire. 'We're looking for better than a cease-fire,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One on June 17 as he left the G7 summit. 'A real end, not a cease-fire. An end… giving up, entirely.' Trump later doubled down on his view of what Iran should do via a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing: 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!' Read More: Here Are the Top Iranian Generals and Scientists Targeted and Killed by Israeli Strikes However, Trump has delivered cryptic responses when asked exactly if and how the U.S. might get involved in the Middle Eastern conflict. On Wednesday, when asked if the U.S. is 'moving closer' to striking Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump said: 'I may do it, I may not do it, nobody knows what I'm going to do… I can tell you this. Iran's got a lot of trouble. They want to negotiate. I said, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before? All this death and destruction.'' He later said in the Oval Office: "I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, because things change, especially with war.' Meanwhile, Araghchi's new warning is the latest in a long line of stern words and threats from Iranian officials in regards to a potential U.S. involvement in the current combat. Read More: Iran's Supreme Leader Calls Out Trump, Threatens 'Irreparable Damage' If U.S. Joins Israeli Conflict On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened 'irreparable damage' if the U.S. joins the Israeli conflict. 'The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,' Khamenei said in a televised address. 'The U.S. entering in this matter [war] is 100% to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter.' The Israel-Iran conflict has entered its ninth day and shows no signs of slowing down. Israel's initial strikes on Iran, conducted in the early hours of June 13, targeted multiple nuclear and military sites, amid rising concerns of Iran's nuclear capabilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes, part of Operation Rising Lion, 'would continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.' Iran followed through on its promise to retaliate, and the rivals have been trading deadly missiles and threats since, with the reported death tolls in both countries rising as a result.
2 hours ago
MAGA star Steve Bannon plays outsized role in Trump's Iran decision: Sources
By the time President Donald Trump and MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon sat down for lunch on Thursday, the president had already approved a plan on how the U.S. might attack an Iranian nuclear facility. American diplomats and their family members were being offered military evacuations from Israel, while the military began moving aircraft and ships to the region. The USS Nimitz – an aircraft carrier that can carry some 60 fighter jets – was set to arrive in the Middle East by the weekend with several smaller ships by its side. Officials said the extraordinary show of force would be needed if Trump pulled the trigger on the military option – both to strike Iran's deeply buried nuclear facility and to protect the some 40,000 U.S. troops who Iran and proxy militant groups could target for retaliation. Trump had just emerged from the Situation Room, where sources say he was warned: A U.S. attack on a key Iranian nuclear facility could be risky, even with a massive "bunker-buster" bomb believed to be able to penetrate some 200 feet through hardened earth. The bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, had only been tested, but never used in a real-life tactical situation, experts say. And the exact nature of the concrete and metal protecting the Iranian nuclear site known as Fordo isn't known, introducing the chance that a US strike would poke a hornet's nest without destroying it. Bannon, who had already spoken with the president by phone ahead of their lunch, thought all of it was a bad idea, according to several people close to him. Sources say he arrived at the White House for his previously scheduled lunch with Trump armed with specific talking points: Israeli intelligence can't be trusted, he planned to say, and the bunker-buster bomb might not work as planned. The precise risk to the U.S. troops in the Middle East, particularly the 2,500 in Iraq, also wasn't clear if Iran retaliated, he would add. A White House official insists that by the time Trump sat down with Bannon for lunch the president had already made a decision to hold off on a strike against Iran. That decision was relayed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who then went to the podium, telling reporters the president would decide "whether or not to go" within two weeks. Another senior administration official dismissed the idea that the "bunker-buster" bomb might not work. 'This Administration is supremely confident in its abilities to dismantle Iran's nuclear program. No one should doubt what the U.S. military is capable of doing,' the official said. Still, Bannon's extraordinary access to Trump this week to discuss a major foreign policy decision like Iran is notable considering Bannon holds no official role in the military or at the State Department. Bannon declined to comment on his lunch with Trump, saying only Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'needs to finish what they started.' 'Bannon in a lot of ways has been – day in and day out – delivering a very, very tough and clear message' against military action, said Curt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative, who also opposes military action in Iran. That strategy, Mills said, has been key to countering other Trump loyalists who favor teaming up with Israel for a strike. 'You can call it infantile. You can call it democratic, or both,' Mills told ABC News. 'This is a White House that is responding in real time to its coalition [which is] revolting to show it's disgusted with the potential of war with Iran.' At odds with Bannon's viewpoint on Iran are other influential conservatives. 'Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat,' Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told Fox News host Sean Hannity this week. 'If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations.' According to one U.S. official, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mostly ceded the discussion to military commanders, including Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of military forces in the Mideast, and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who have spent considerable time talking with Trump by phone and in person in recent weeks about his options with Iran and the risks involved, which can be extraordinarily complicated. 'Anybody will tell you the biggest threat to the region is a nuclear-armed Iran,' the official said. 'No one wants Iran to have a nuke.' Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson, pushed back on the suggestion Hegseth hasn't taken a lead role in the talks, calling it "completely false." He said Hegseth speaks with Trump 'multiple times a day each day,' and attended meetings with the president in the Situation Room. 'Secretary Hegseth is providing the leadership the Department of Defense and our Armed Forces need, and he will continue to work diligently in support of President Trump's peace through strength agenda,' Parnell said. Sources say Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the president's interim national security adviser, has been another constant presence at the president's side during the discussions along with Trump's Mideast adviser Steve Witkoff. Once seen as one of Trump's most hawkish cabinet members, Rubio espoused a hardline stance on Iran for years and warned last month that the country was now 'a threshold nuclear weapons state.' But since then, sources say, Rubio has become much more closely aligned with MAGA's 'America First,' noninterventionist stance, adding that he is acutely aware of the political repercussions that a direct attack on Iran could bring about. U.S. and Israeli intelligence agree that Iran has been enriching uranium to a dangerously high concentration and could quickly amass enough of it to build several nuclear weapons. But U.S. intelligence also cautions that its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hasn't given the order to build those devices. The question now is how soon Iran could declare itself a nuclear power after that decision was made. The uncertainty has drawn comparisons in MAGA circles to faulty intelligence in Iraq, which supporters of the movement blame for the lengthy war. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, who has warned on social media of 'warmongers,' told Congress this spring that 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.' When asked Friday about that assessment, Trump responded that the intelligence community 'is wrong' and 'she's wrong.' Gabbard later said her testimony was being taken out of context. 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree,' she wrote in a post on Friday. Sources say another factor could have played a role in Trump's decision to hold off on striking Iran for now despite his insistence that Iran was close to a nuclear bomb. A third aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford and its guided-missile destroyers are set to deploy early next week to head toward Europe, according to the Navy. The carrier strike group needs time to travel before it could be in a position to help protect troops in theater should Trump opt to move ahead with the strike two weeks from now. Officials caution that any success Bannon might have in pulling the president back from the brink of war could be brief. When asked on Friday by reporters if he would ask Israel to stop bombing Iran to enable diplomatic negotiations, Trump said probably not. 'If someone is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if someone is losing,' Trump said of the Israelis. 'But we're ready, willing and able and have been speaking to Iran and we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.'
