As tensions in the Middle East escalate, a powerful American-made bunker-busting bomb is emerging as the critical weapon in the United States’ arsenal should President Donald Trump opt for military intervention to support Israel against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The weapon in question is the GBU-57, a 30,000-pound (13,607-kilogramme) warhead designed to penetrate an astonishing 200 feet (61 meters) underground before detonation. This formidable capability is notably absent from Israel’s own military inventory, despite its objective of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
The GBU-57
The focus on the GBU-57 comes after a week of intense Israeli military action that has reportedly inflicted significant damage on Iranian military commanders and surface installations.
“The regime’s missile stockpiles, launchers, military bases, production facilities, nuclear scientists, military command and control has taken a very severe beating,” stated Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran program at the Washington-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD), a conservative think tank.
However, Taleblu also raised critical questions about the extent of the damage to the core of Iran’s nuclear program.
Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicate no damage to Fordo, a uranium enrichment plant located south of Tehran.
Unlike the Natanz and Isfahan sites in central Iran, Fordo is buried deep underground, making it impervious to conventional Israeli ordnance. This makes the GBU-57 the only known weapon capable of destroying such deeply entrenched facilities, solidifying its potential role as President Trump’s weapon of choice in a direct military confrontation.
Capabilities of GBU-57
The US military says the GBU-57 — also named Massive Ordnance Penetrator — “is designed to penetrate up to 200ft underground before exploding,” navigating through rock and concrete.
This differs from missiles or bombs that typically detonate their payload near or upon impact.
“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, a fellow working on missile defence for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based research centre.
The 6.6-meter-long GBU-57 also has a specialised fuse because “you need an explosive that’s not going to immediately explode under that much shock and pressure,” said Dahlgren.
Design for this bomb began in the early 2000s, and an order for 20 units was placed with Boeing in 2009.
How is it deployed?
The only aircraft capable of deploying the GBU-57 is an American B-2 Bomber, a stealth aircraft.
Some of these bombers were deployed in early May on Diego Garcia, the site of a joint UK-US military base in the Indian Ocean, but were no longer visible by mid-June, according to AFP’s analysis of satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs.
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,” said Dahlgren.
Each B-2 can carry two GBU-57 bombs, and Schwartz said multiple bombs will likely be needed.
“They’re not going to just be one and done,” he said.
Schwartz added that the air superiority Israel has established over Iran reduces the risks faced by the B-2 bombers.
Consequences of GBU-57
Such a US intervention would come with “a lot of political baggage for America,” said Taleblu, emphasising that the bunker-buster bomb is not the only way to address Iran’s nuclear programme.
Without the GBU-57 bombs, and short of a diplomatic solution, Taleblu said Israelis could attack access to underground complexes like Fordo by “trying to hit entrances, collapse what they can, cut electricity” and take other measures that have already been taken at Natanz.
