B-2 bomber could people Iran's Fordo tract
Israel's strikes against Iran person killed a fig of its apical atomic scientists and battered its atomic facilities, but implicit demolition of Iran's quality to marque weapons-grade uranium is believed to beryllium retired of scope — unless the U.S. agrees to help.
At slightest 1 cardinal uranium enrichment site, Fordo, has truthful acold been unscathed. Located 300 feet beneath a upland and protected by Russian-produced air defenses, Fordo is believed by subject experts to beryllium cardinal to Iran's atomic program. Nuclear non-proliferation experts accidental this is wherever Iran has tried to enrich uranium for weapons purposes and grow its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Israel's champion accidental astatine destroying the installation astatine Fordo could prevarication with a U.S.-produced weaponry that's truthful dense that it tin lone beryllium dropped by a U.S. plane. At a proceeding Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire raised this with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"It's being reported that the president is being asked to see providing the bunker-buster weaponry that is required to beryllium carried lone by the B-2 Bomber and would necessitate a U.S. pilot," she said, asking Hegseth whether helium had been asked to supply President Trump with options for striking the Middle East. He declined to answer.
Mr. Trump is considering joining Israel's violative against Iran, and approved onslaught plans Tuesday, but has not made a last decision, CBS News has reported. The White House said Thursday that the president would marque a determination connected whether to bid a onslaught wrong the adjacent 2 weeks. Sources told CBS News that the president had discussed the logistics of utilizing bunker-buster bombs arsenic helium weighs whether to wade into the struggle betwixt Iran and Israel.
Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb
In this photograph released by the U.S. Air Force connected May 2, 2023, airmen look astatine a GBU-57, oregon the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, astatine Whiteman Air Base successful Missouri.
U.S. Air Force via AP, File
The weaponry that Shaheen was referring to is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, known arsenic a MOP. It is designed to onslaught "deeply-buried facilities and hardened bunkers and tunnels," according to the Air Force. It's guided by subject GPS and is meant to scope and destruct targets successful well-protected facilities.
The MOP measures astir 20.5 feet successful magnitude and 31.5 inches successful diameter, according to the Air Force.
It weighs successful astatine conscionable nether 30,000 pounds, including astir 5,300 pounds of explosive material. The Air Force says that the MOP's explosive powerfulness is implicit 10 times that of its predecessor, the BLU-109.
It's designed to penetrate up to 200 feet underground earlier exploding. The warhead is encased successful a peculiar high-performance alloy alloy, which is meant to alteration it to transportation a ample explosive payload portion maintaining the penetrator case's integrity during impact, according to an Air Force information sheet.
Boeing developed the GBU-57, and arsenic of 2015, the aerospace institution had been contracted to nutrient 20 of them, according to the Air Force.
Because of the GBU-57's value — it's the heaviest weaponry produced by the U.S. — the B-2 Spirit is presently the lone craft successful the Air Force that is equipped to transportation and deploy it.
B-2 Spirit
A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber lands astatine RAF Fairford successful Gloucestershire.
Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images
One of the cardinal attributes of the B-2 Spirit is its stealth — it's capable to evade aerial defenses and scope heavy defended targets. It's aerodynamically businesslike and its interior weapons bays tin transportation 2 of the GBU-57 bombs.
Because of what the Air Force refers to arsenic the plane's "low-observable technologies," the B-2 Spirit has a "high level of state of enactment astatine precocious altitudes." It's built with a operation of "reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, ocular and radar signatures." This, on with composite materials, peculiar coatings, helping plan and different classified processes, marque the B-2 hard for adjacent the astir blase defence systems to observe and track.
Without refueling, its scope is astir 6,000 nautical miles.
The B-2 took its archetypal formation successful 1989, successful California, but now, Whiteman Air Force Base, successful Missouri, is the lone B-2 base. It's been utilized for airstrikes successful the Kosovo War, successful Afghanistan and successful Iraq. The premier contractor for the B-2 is Northrop Grumman.
For years, immoderate lawmakers and defence experts person suggested that the U.S. provide Israel with GBU-57 bombs and jets susceptible of carrying them — but the idea is controversial, with critics arguing the determination would beryllium provocative.
Ellen Uchimiya is enforcement exertion of authorities for CBSNews.com. She was antecedently the Washington bureau main for Bloomberg Television and formerly worked arsenic a shaper astatine Fox News.
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