Latest news with #bunkerBuster
NHK
9 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
Pentagon: US used 'bunker buster' bombs in Iran attack
Pentagon officials have said the United States used bunker buster bombs to attack Iran's Fordow nuclear facility on Sunday. At a news conference in Washington, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: "It was an incredible and overwhelming success. The order we received from our commander in chief was focused, it was powerful and it was clear. We devastated the Iranian nuclear program." They used the GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrator. It is designed to attack deeply-buried sites and hardened bunkers and tunnels. US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine said that the lead B2 aircraft dropped two of the weapons on the first of several points at Fordow at approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, or 2:10 a.m. on Sunday local Iran time. He said the remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of 14 of the bunker buster weapons used. Caine said that Tomahawk missiles were the last to strike at the Isfahan facility. Hegseth said the operation did not target Iranian troops or civilians. He added the mission "has not been about regime change" in Iran.
CNN
a day ago
- General
- CNN
Analysis: The one weapon that could destroy a place like Fordow
There's only one weapon in the world that can destroy a place like Fordow, and one plane that can carry that weapon. CNN military analyst Col. Cedric Leighton (ret.) explains how the Massive Ordnance Penetrator - a sophisticated bunker buster - works.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bombing Iran's underground nuclear plant might not be effective, one expert says
A U.S. attack on a key Iranian nuclear facility might not be effective, even if American military's massive bunker-buster bombs are used, a national security expert familiar with Iran's program told ABC News on Thursday. While the 30,000-pound bombs have been tested, they've never actually been used and the exact nature of the concrete and metal protecting the site located deep inside a mountain -- that the bombs would need to penetrate -- isn't fully known. Joe Cirincione, who has spent decades researching nuclear proliferation for Congress and other world leaders, told ABC News that while attacking Iran's nuclear enrichment program would cripple its nuclear weapons capability, it would not eliminate it. At the center of President Donald Trump's decision on whether to attack Iran is the Fordo nuclear enrichment facility in northwest Iran. It's said to be built 300 feet deep inside a mountain -- maybe more -- and reinforced with concrete, according to experts. The U.S. weapon touted as able to strike inside the Fordo facility the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, known as a "bunker buster." It's capable of penetrating 200 feet deep inside an underground target and then exploding, experts say. Cirincione said that using the untested weapon would not guarantee success. "Fordo is not an easy target. They made this very difficult for the United States to destroy," he said. "Even [the bunker buster] can not penetrate 300 feet of mountain and reinforced concrete. "You need to drop a bomb, that will dig a crater, and then another bomb in that crater and then another bomb, and then another," he said. "And then you will only damage that part of the facility." Cirincione also noted that even if there's some damage done, Iran's government has the knowledge, experience and, most important, enough enriched uranium and centrifuges in other locations to move forward with relative ease. MORE: The US bunker-buster bomb and how it could be used against Iran's nuclear program "You can't bomb that," he told ABC News. "You can slow it down, but they can pick up and start again fast and they know it." The International Atomic Energy Agency this week passed a resolution that stated Iran had breached its non-proliferation agreements and has been illegally stockpiling enriched uranium. "I've been there, it's half a mile underground," Rafael Grossi, the IAEA's director general, said about the Fordo plant, as reported by The New York Times. Days after the IAEA acted, Israeli forces attacked Iranian targets after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the Iranian government could create a nuclear weapon "in a very short time." Iranian officials have dismissed claims by Israel that they are building a nuclear weapon. MORE: Israel-Iran live updates White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the president would make a decision about attacking Iran "in two weeks." Cirincione stressed that continued military strikes would not be a good option for Israel or the U.S. if the goal is an Iran without nuclear weapons. "Once you recognize there is no military solution to this problem, the military solutions can only be threats to Iran and the only answer is to get Iran to agree to roll back and end its capabilities," he said.
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Trump: 'Out' Of Patience; Iran: 'The Battle Begins' - Erin Burnett OutFront - Podcast on CNN Audio
Trump: 'Out' Of Patience; Iran: 'The Battle Begins' Erin Burnett OutFront 53 mins President Trump wraps up a Situation Room meeting and tells Iran that his patience has already run out. Plus, a look at America's 30,000 pound bunker busting bomb and the likely flight path and preparations to deploy this bomb.
CNN
4 days ago
- General
- CNN
Analysis: The one weapon that could destroy a place like Fordow
There's only one weapon in the world that can destroy a place like Fordow, and one plane that can carry that weapon. CNN military analyst Col. Cedric Leighton (ret.) explains how the Massive Ordnance Penetrator - a sophisticated bunker buster - works.
