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The never-used bomb Trump is thinking of dropping on Iran - but which might not work
The never-used bomb Trump is thinking of dropping on Iran - but which might not work
The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is designed to burrow through rock and concrete before exploding
US President Donald Trump is considering using a bomb that has never been dropped in combat
(Image: AFP via Getty Images )
Donald Trump is reportedly weighing the use of a never-used-before 'bunker buster' bomb, capable of penetrating heavily fortified underground facilities, against Iran's nuclear sites. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was seeking "a real end" to the middle eastern country's nuclear ambitions, which he called "better than a ceasefire."
The weapon in question is the GBU‑57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 15‑ton 'mega bomb' designed to burrow through rock and concrete. The US Air Force is thought to have commissioned 20 of the bombs, which have never been used in combat.
Intelligence reports and Pentagon officials suggest Trump may deploy U.S. B‑2 stealth bombers to drop the bomb over Iran's Fordow enrichment plant—an underground uranium site that is buried deep underground and is thought impervious to conventional munitions .
Iran's most fortified and best-protected nuclear facility, Fordow is buried deep inside a mountain. Only the U.S. has the 30,000-pound bombs — often referred to as bunker busters — that were built to destroy such facilities and can only be delivered by the US air force's B-2 stealth bombers.
President Trump told reporters: "I may do it. I may not do it, I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader has vowed a 'firm and decisive response' to any attack.
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A GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri
(Image: AP )
The MOP is a 30,000-pound precision-guided "bunker buster" bomb developed for the United States Air Force.
The warhead assembly contains 4,590 pounds, or 2,082 kg of AFX-757 and 752 pounds, or 341 kg, of PBXN-114, for a total explosive payload of 5,342 pounds, or 2,423 kg.
The high-performance explosives are optimised for controlled detonation in confined spaces.
GBU stands for guided bomb unit and it is the 57th GBU bomb that the US has deigned, hence the designation GBU-57. When dropped from a height of 50,000 feet, it can travel faster than the speed of sound and is thought to be able to burrow through 200 feet of bedrock before its explosive charge detonates.
People attend a rally on June 17 in New York calling for the Trump administration not to go to war with Iran
(Image: Getty Images )
Ryan Brobst, a munitions expert at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies told NPR: "What actually differentiates them from other weapons is their hardened steel casing.
"They actually often have a smaller explosive payload than other weapons, but it's the casing that allows them to dig into the ground, kind of like a drill, and then destroy these targets.
"So if one weapon wasn't able to penetrate it, what would have to happen is that another weapon would need to be dropped in essentially exactly the same drill hole as the one previous, then drill down further and then explode."
Yet there is no certainty that the MOP bomb would work because of the Fordow fuel enrichment plant is so deeply buried in a granite mountain and protected by reinforced concrete.
Fordow is Iran's most advanced nuclear enrichment site and lies 18 miles northeast of the city of Qom. An international report found it had the ability to enrich enough uranium for a nuclear warhead in a matter of days. It's buried under 260 to 300 feet of mountainside reinforced with concrete and surrounded by air defence systems.
It is thought to have been designed and built after Israel bombed nuclear facilities in Iraq and Syria to prevent them developing nuclear weapons.
Some military sources in the US have said that only a nuclear warhead, delivered after the site has been hit by conventional weapons to break up the ground, would be certain to destroy the site.
There is a risk that the MOP bomb may only be successful at burying the plant under rubble and mean that Iran's uranium enrichment programme would only be set back
And Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group's Iran Project, questioned whether a successful attack would stop the threat for good.
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He told NPR: "The reality is that even if Fordow is fully destroyed, Iran still has the know-how and the capability to reconstitute its nuclear program. So this is not a solution to the nuclear crisis with Iran."
