How bunker buster bombs work and how they could destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear site

As Israel’s conflict to instrumentality retired Iran’s atomic capabilities continues, Iran’s astir heavily-protected atomic facility astatine Fordow, 2 hours from Tehran, remains intact.

Many subject analysts judge that a two-ton precision bunker buster developed by and successful sole possession of the U.S. is the lone means of eliminating the Fordow site, which immoderate assertion whitethorn beryllium susceptible of producing a atomic warhead successful arsenic small arsenic 2 to 3 days.

Jonathan Ruhe, Director of Foreign Policy for JINSA, spoke with Fox News Digital astir bunker-busters, and however Israel oregon the U.S. mightiness usage them to destruct the Fordow atomic threat. 

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Illustration showing however a GBU-57 Bunker Buster is deployed. (Fox News )

What is simply a bunker buster?

Ruhe said bunker busters are munitions designed to usage the unit of gravity to "penetrate done immoderate substance of earth, rock, and factual earlier the weaponry itself past explodes" underground. The detonation whitethorn either instrumentality retired the people fully, oregon "collapse the structure" astir the people "without needfully obliterating it," helium explained.

Bunker busters travel successful aggregate value classes. Israel possesses 2,000- and 5,000-pound varieties. Only the U.S. possesses the 30,000-pound GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP).

Developed nether President George W. Bush, Ruhe says the MOP was "designed specifically" for targets similar Fordow, wherever atomic sites oregon bid and power bunkers are hidden acold underground.

Two abstracted bombs are dropped by a B2 Spirit stealth bomber. (Fox News)

How galore bunker busters are needed?

Ruhe said that the fig of munitions required to people Fordow depends connected the extent of the facility. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies states that Fordow’s installation is betwixt 60 and 90 meters (196 to 295 feet) beneath ground. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told The Financial Times past week that the installation reaches 800 meters underground.

Ruhe said Grossi, who has been to the Fordow facility, whitethorn person been "trying to message, ‘hey, subject enactment is not the solution here.’"

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The illustration shows the archetypal weaponry exploding and creating a hole. (Fox News)

The MOP is said to person a penetration extent of 200 feet. Ruhe said that fixed Fordow’s region underground and the trouble of penetrating the rocky mountainside the tract is dug into, the U.S. would apt usage a method called burrowing, successful which a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber would "drop respective MOPs successful succession, 1 aft the other."

Fordow poses a unsocial target. Ruhe said that pilots person to instrumentality into relationship the facility’s multiple, constrictive exit tunnels, and execute the close space of interaction to penetrate the ground.

Though Israeli aerial dominance implicit Iran has eliminated the request for stealth aerial assets, Ruhe believes the stealth B-2 would beryllium the lone instrumentality capable for delivering the MOPs. Ruhe said timing constraints marque the usage of B-52 bombers "not relevant." 

Additionally, Ruhe explained that speech of loaning B-2 bombers to the Israeli Air Force is "a unsafe distraction." Not lone is determination "0.0% chance" that the U.S. would springiness retired this strategical capability, but Ruhe says grooming Israeli pilots to alert the B-2 would instrumentality respective months.

A 2nd weaponry follows into the spread and explodes, causing much damage. (Fox News)

Can Israel instrumentality retired Fordow?

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that "destroying [Fordow] from the aerial is simply a occupation lone the U.S. tin do." 

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Given that Israel is "very tactically inventive" and "very bully astatine maximizing the capabilities they bash have," Ruhe says that Israel could execute its goals astatine Fordow without the MOP. 

Not lone did Ruhe connection the improbable but not intolerable script wherever Israel mightiness "storm the tract successful a commando raid," but helium said that Israel could usage F-15s, escorted by F-35s, to present aggregate 5,000-pound bunker busters implicit Fordow, utilizing the aforesaid burrowing maneuver the U.S. would apt employ. 

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2015, record photo, a U.S. Air Force B2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover astatine the Talladega Superspeedway successful Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Mark Almond, File)

Such a strike, helium admitted, would "achieve a much constricted explanation of success" than the MOP could. 

Differing expectations for Fordow

The U.S. and Israel are apt to person antithetic goals successful targeting Fordow, Ruhe said. "Americans thin to deliberation of obliterating targets," Ruhe said, whereas Israel would "probably beryllium good with saying they knocked backmost the operations there by a twelvemonth oregon so."

Ruhe estimates that the bunker busters whitethorn not wholly destruct the facility, but that it whitethorn beryllium considered a occurrence if it were to sound retired the powerfulness root to Iranian centrifuges, oregon making "the aerial excessively polluted" for centrifuges to operate. 

FORDO, IRAN -- JUN. 14, 2025; Maxar outer imagery overview of the Fordo enrichment installation located astir 60 miles southwest of Tehran. No disposable harm is observed.  (Maxar Technologies via Getty)

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Israel has "successfully knocked retired the different parts of Iran’s substance cycle" successful Natanz and Isfahan, Ruhe said.  "If you privation to forestall a atomic Iran, Fordow is simply a large portion of that," Ruhe said. "But it’s lone conscionable a portion of what inactive needs to beryllium done and thought about."

Fox News' Caitlin McFall contributed to this article.