INTERNACIONAL
How bunker buster bombs work and how they could destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear site
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As Israel’s battle to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities continues, Iran’s most heavily-protected nuclear facility at Fordow, two hours from Tehran, remains intact.
Many military analysts believe that a two-ton precision bunker buster developed by and in sole possession of the U.S. is the only means of eliminating the Fordow site, which some claim may be capable of producing a nuclear warhead in as little as two to three days.
Jonathan Ruhe, Director of Foreign Policy for JINSA, spoke with Fox News Digital about bunker-busters, and how Israel or the U.S. might use them to eliminate the Fordow nuclear threat.
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Illustration showing how a GBU-57 Bunker Buster is deployed. (Fox News )
What is a bunker buster?
Ruhe said bunker busters are munitions designed to use the force of gravity to «penetrate through any mixture of earth, rock, and concrete before the bomb itself then explodes» underground. The explosion may either take out the target fully, or «collapse the structure» around the target «without necessarily obliterating it,» he explained.
Bunker busters come in multiple weight 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 under President George W. Bush, Ruhe says the MOP was «designed specifically» for targets like Fordow, where nuclear sites or command and control bunkers are hidden far underground.
Two separate bombs are dropped by a B2 Spirit stealth bomber. (Fox News)
How many bunker busters are needed?
Ruhe said that the number of munitions required to target Fordow depends on the depth of the facility. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies states that Fordow’s facility is between 60 and 90 meters (196 to 295 feet) below ground. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told The Financial Times last week that the facility reaches 800 meters underground.
Ruhe said Grossi, who has been to the Fordow facility, may have been «trying to message, ‘hey, military action is not the solution here.’»
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The illustration shows the first bomb exploding and creating a hole. (Fox News)
The MOP is said to have a penetration depth of 200 feet. Ruhe said that given Fordow’s distance underground and the difficulty of penetrating the rocky mountainside the site is dug into, the U.S. would likely use a technique called burrowing, in which a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber would «drop several MOPs in succession, one after the other.»
Fordow poses a unique target. Ruhe said that pilots have to take into account the facility’s multiple, narrow exit tunnels, and achieve the right angle of impact to penetrate the ground.
Though Israeli air dominance over Iran has eliminated the need for stealth air assets, Ruhe believes the stealth B-2 would be the only tool adequate for delivering the MOPs. Ruhe said timing constraints make the use of B-52 bombers «not relevant.»
Additionally, Ruhe explained that talk of loaning B-2 bombers to the Israeli Air Force is «a dangerous distraction.» Not only is there «0.0% chance» that the U.S. would give out this strategic capability, but Ruhe says training Israeli pilots to fly the B-2 would take several months.
A second bomb follows into the hole and explodes, causing more damage. (Fox News)
Can Israel take out Fordow?
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that «destroying [Fordow] from the air is a job only the U.S. can do.»
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Given that Israel is «very tactically inventive» and «very good at maximizing the capabilities they do have,» Ruhe says that Israel could achieve its goals at Fordow without the MOP.
Not only did Ruhe offer the unlikely but not impossible scenario where Israel might «storm the site in a commando raid,» but he said that Israel could use F-15s, escorted by F-35s, to deliver multiple 5,000-pound bunker busters over Fordow, utilizing the same burrowing tactic the U.S. would likely employ.
FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2015, file photo, a U.S. Air Force B2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Mark Almond, File)
Such a strike, he admitted, would «achieve a more limited definition of success» than the MOP could.
Differing expectations for Fordow
The U.S. and Israel are likely to have different goals in targeting Fordow, Ruhe said. «Americans tend to think of obliterating targets,» Ruhe said, whereas Israel would «probably be fine with saying they knocked back the operations there by a year or so.»
Ruhe estimates that the bunker busters may not completely destroy the facility, but that it may be considered a success if it were to knock out the power source to Iranian centrifuges, or making «the air too polluted» for centrifuges to operate.
FORDO, IRAN — JUN. 14, 2025; Maxar satellite imagery overview of the Fordo enrichment facility located approximately 60 miles southwest of Tehran. No visible damage is observed. (Maxar Technologies via Getty)
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Israel has «successfully knocked out the other parts of Iran’s fuel cycle» in Natanz and Isfahan, Ruhe said. «If you want to prevent a nuclear Iran, Fordow is a big part of that,» Ruhe said. «But it’s only just a part of what still needs to be done and thought about.»
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this article.
INTERNACIONAL
El golpe fulminante de EE.UU. e Israel para matar al líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei
INTERNACIONAL
Jeb Bush commends former rival Trump’s Iran operation: ‘This is their time to take their country back’
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FIRST ON FOX: A major public policy nonprofit co-led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering Saturday’s military strikes against Iran.
United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) — was formed in 2008 by Ambassador Mark Wallace, who held a United Nations-centered post in Bush’s brother’s administration, and former George H.W. Bush diplomat Dennis Ross — to combat threats posed by the Islamic Republic.
The group has been on the front lines of highlighting Iran’s human rights abuses and attacks on Americans and advising policymakers and the business community about dangers posed by Tehran.
The organization counsels existing and would-be commercial partners of Iran regarding the legal, financial and reputational risks of that kind of commerce.
«UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,» Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital Saturday.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, left, and Jeb Bush take part in a presidential debate at the Reagan Library Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
«We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.»
Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the «peaceful community of nations» but were not able to finish the job.
«This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,» they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms.
«The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei.»
Khamenei, 86, was declared dead by Israeli sources by late afternoon.
Bush and Wallace added it was clear the joint American-Israeli operation was directed not at Iran, the country and citizenry, but at Khamenei’s «lethal capabilities.»
The Iranian people, they said, have long suffered under repression and that Trump’s message since the strikes began is one that should be embraced by all Americans: «We aim to see Iran free, prosperous, and at peace. This is their time to take their great country back.»
«The Butcher of Tehran is dead,» Bush and Wallace added in a separate public statement.
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Bush added in a statement on X that «Operation Epic Fury marks a historic mission against the Iranian regime.»
«We salute the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members and commend for his courageous decision,» he added.
Bush’s relationship with Trump has appeared to warm since their bitter feuds of a decade ago.
During the 2016 sweeps, Trump nicknamed the Republican Party scion «Low Energy Jeb,» while Bush quipped that the mogul would not be able to «insult your way to the presidency» after the eventual victor mocked an ad that former first lady Barbara Bush filmed for her son.
While governor, Bush made improving public education a hallmark of his administration in Tallahassee. Bush implemented stricter proficiency standards in elementary education and signed what was dubbed the «A+ plan,» making Florida the first state to require clear letter grades on student performance.
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He recently praised the Trump administration’s overtures toward universal school choice and federal block grants as a «transformational opportunity.»
«The Trump administration has a chance to shift the power dynamic back to the states, where policymakers are uniquely equipped to understand and address the diverse needs of their students, schools, and communities,» he added in a column in Education Week.
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Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins ‘America Reports’ to give the latest on the aftermath of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
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Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a «massive blow» to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.
«Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory,» the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.
A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.
The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It describes a likely «continuity» scenario as producing «Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,» in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.
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«The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,» Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.
«In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,» he added. «The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.»
Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a «sprawling parallel state» operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.
Large crowds gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Sunday, after Iranian state TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s «hidden nerve center,» extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.
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«The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,» the non-partisan policy organization said. «The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.»
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