Everything you need to know about bunker busters used by US on Iranian nuclear sites

The United States of America attacked Iranian nuclear sites with bunker busters and Tomahawk missiles. 

American forces used “six huge bunker buster bombs” in the hit on the Fordow facility, said Fox News host Sean Hannity after speaking to Trump shortly following the US attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites.

What about bunker busters?

“Bunker buster” refers to a class of precision-guided munitions specifically engineered to destroy fortified targets buried deep underground—beyond the reach of conventional bombs.

The most formidable among them is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the U.S. military’s largest non-nuclear bomb. Weighing approximately 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg), it includes a 6,000-pound (2,700 kg) warhead and is encased in high-strength steel.

Designed to breach up to 200 feet (61 meters) of earth or concrete, it is deployed exclusively by the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which can carry two such bombs per sortie.

The US Air Force notes that multiple MOPs can be used sequentially, either by a single aircraft or multiple bombers, to intensify the effect with each strike burrowing deeper than the last.

Read more: US attacked Iran’s Fordow site with 6 bunker buster bombs: Report

Israel also possesses U.S.-supplied bunker-busting weapons, including the GBU-28 and BLU-109, typically launched from F-15 fighter jets.

These munitions, however, have limited penetration capabilities and are not suitable for extremely fortified targets such as Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.

In 2024, Israel reportedly used a series of BLU-109 bombs to target and eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground bunker in Beirut, according to defense sources.