In the crosshairs What you need to know about Iran's Fordo nuclear facility and bunker busters
Should the US government decide to support Israel more directly than before in its attacks on Iran, it could supply so-called bunker busters. Experts believe that these special bombs are capable of causing considerable damage to the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, which is built deep inside a mountain.
19.06.2025, 04:30
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The Iranian Fordo nuclear facility is located around 100 kilometers southwest of Tehran.
- Fordo is located deep under a mountain and is protected by anti-aircraft guns.
- Special bombs, so-called bunker busters, would have to be used to destroy the facility from the air.
- They would have to be dropped by US aircraft, which would mean direct intervention by the United States in the conflict.
However, the use of such bombs would be associated with considerable risks. They would have to be dropped by US aircraft, which would mean direct intervention by the United States in the conflict. This in turn could ruin any chance of Iran renegotiating its nuclear program with US President Donald Trump.
Israeli government representatives have hinted that there are other ways of attacking Fordo and destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities. But apart from a ground commando raid or a nuclear strike, the bunker bomb seems to be the most likely option.
Four questions and answers about this weapon and its likely target:
What is a bunker buster?
Bunker-busting weapons is a broad term for bombs that are designed to penetrate deep below the earth's surface before exploding. The current case involves GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs in the US arsenal. According to the US Air Force, the precision-guided bomb, which weighs around 13.6 tons, is designed for attacks on deeply buried and fortified bunkers and tunnels.
The bomb is fitted with a conventional warhead. It is assumed that it can penetrate up to 61 meters below the earth's surface before detonating. Several bombs can also be dropped in succession, with subsequent bombs drilling into the crater of the previous one and thus penetrating deeper and deeper with each explosion.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran produces highly enriched uranium in Fordo. It is therefore possible that nuclear material could be released there if a GBU-57 is used. According to the IAEA, during Israeli attacks on the Iranian nuclear facility in Natan, only the centrifuge plant itself was contaminated, not the surrounding area.
How difficult would an attack on Fordo be to carry out?
Fordo is Iran's second nuclear enrichment facility after Natan. It is not known whether Israel has damaged the underground uranium enrichment facility there during attacks on Natans.
Fordo is smaller than Natans and was dug into the side of a mountain near the city of Gom, about 95 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Construction probably began around 2006 and Fordo went into operation for the first time three years later - the same year that Tehran publicly confirmed the existence of the facility.
The Fordo facility is estimated to be 80 meters deep under rock and earth. It is reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missiles. However, these air defense systems have probably already been hit by Israeli attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the aim of the attacks on Iran is to eliminate the Iranian missile and nuclear program because it is an existential threat to Israel. Government representatives said that Fordo was part of this plan. "This whole operation (...) really needs to be completed with the elimination of Fordo," Israeli ambassador to the US, Jechiel Leiter, told Fox News.
Why would the USA have to participate directly?
Theoretically, the GBU-57 could be dropped by any bomber capable of carrying its enormous weight. However, according to the US Air Force, only the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is currently configured for such a mission. The B-2 is only flown by the US Air Force and is manufactured by Northrop Grumman.
The heavy strategic long-range bomber has a range of around 11,000 kilometers without refueling and 18,500 kilometers with refueling. According to the manufacturer, it can reach any point in the world within a few hours and carry a payload of up to 18 tons. However, the Air Force has already tested B-2 bombers with two GBU-57s - with a total weight of around 27.2 tons.
Will the USA participate directly in attacks?
The US government is keeping a low profile. When asked at the G7 summit in Canada what it would take for Washington to get involved militarily, Trump replied: "I don't want to talk about that".
The Israeli US ambassador Leiter said at the weekend regarding possible US support in the event of an attack on Fordo that Israel had only asked the US for defensive help. "We have a number of contingencies (...) that will allow us to deal with Fordo," he said. "Not everything is a question of, you know, taking to the air and bombing from afar."
