In the end, it’s not Israel that did the dirty work (as Mr Mertz had put it), but against all odds the United States. And as a bonus, Iran’s unreachable nuclear facilities offered a superb real-life testbed for the B-2-GBU-57 tandem.
by Eric H. Biass — Geneva, June 21, 2025 — © European-Security
During the past two or three days, some media reported that a number of Northrop B-2 stealth bombers had been flown to Diego Garcia and Guam. Whether true or not, it really served as a deceptive move. Indeed, the B-2 bombers that dropped their GBU-57s on the three Iranian covert nuclear facilities deep south of Teheran actually flew in from the opposite direction, all the way from their Whiteman base in Missouri after an over 11,000km flight (this is a minimum assuming an unlikely straight-line route). Knowing that the B-2s are subsonic aircraft and that they actually flew back to their homebase says a lot in terms of crew determination, endurance and preparation, and logistics (particularly regarding air-refuelling operations). Future will probably tell, but flying from the West also poses a number of questions regarding the number of countries necessarily overflown.
At the heart of the operation was the famous GBU-57B. Like most guided bombs, this consists of an existing « dumb » bomb on which are bolted steering fins at the back and a guidance unit on the nose. The « iron » bomb involved here is a BLU-127 which is primarily designed to vertically penetrate a hardened surface as deeply as possible by sheer gravitation force before exploding, the kinetic energy being provided by the massive weight of its steel casing. A noteworthy point is that this operation marks the first operational use of this 13,600 kilogram weapon, which to date can only be released by a B-2 bomber. Apart from its humongous weight the weapon is 6.2 metres long.
Another support weapon involved in this 21/22 June operation is the Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missile of 1st Gulf War fame, some 35 of which having reportedly been sub-launched by the USS Georgia lying in the depths of the Sea of Arabia. The USS Georgia, interestingly, is one of four Ohio class boomers that were converted to conventional weapons launchers able to despatch some 154 Tomahawk missiles. But not only. Quite noticeable on the back of the boat is an unusual hunch. Called the SDV, its purpose is to enable the submarine to covertly deliver and retrieve Special Operations personnel, of which it can accommodate sixty.
In some of the post bomb-run satellite photos released by Associated Press of the Fordow site, one can see a crater formed on the right of the penetration cavity of a GBU-57. This could mean that the weapon has detonated in or near a cavity causing a severe blow out followed by a structural collapse of the rock above.
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Press Conférence of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Air Force General Dan Caine, US chief of Staff
See Also:
- „Der Mitternachtshammer“: Für wen läutet die Glocke? — (2025-0621) —
- « Le marteau de minuit ». Pour qui sonne le glas ? » — (2025-0621) —
- « A Nail in Iran’s Nuke Coffin » — (2025-0621) —
- « Midnight Hammer »: For Whom the Bell Tolls ? — (2025-0621) —
