US Enters the Conflict With 30,000-Pound Bunker Busters

A team of US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers was responsible for a three-target airstrike in Iran on June 21. The strikes, which hit several nuclear sites, marked the US’s first direct military involvement in the growing Iran-Israel conflict.

The mission aimed to take out three nuclear-related targets, including Iran’s deeply-buried Fordow facility. The weapon of choice? The 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, justly known as the “bunker buster.”

The strike was confirmed by President Donald Trump, who took to social media shortly afterward to celebrate the operation.

"All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this,” he wrote.

Alongside Fordow, the US also targeted Natanz and Esfahan, both key sites in Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Fordow sits under 300 feet of rock and reinforced concrete, making it a tough nut to crack without something like a B-2. This is the only aircraft capable of carrying and deploying such a massive bomb… and it makes it even more impressive that a B-2 can hold two at a time.

The operation was the first known use of conventional bunker busters in a nuclear site strike, with President Trump claiming to have “completely and totally obliterated” these facilities. Iran claims that the sites were evacuated prior to impact, and no radioactive damage has been reported.

The raid reflects decisions ranging from routing the stealth fleet via Guam and Pacific refueling tracks to support F-22 escorts, F-16s, and EA-18G Growlers. The USAF’s layers of stealth, precision bombers, and aerial refueling, all while staying quite literally under the radar, allowed it to reach targets over 4,000nm away from home while hardly breaking a sweat.

FMI: www.whiteman.af.mil