Earlier this year, satellite images revealed that the US had sent American B-2 bombers to a strategically located base on Diego Garcia, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean. These B-2s, the Spirit stealth bombers, are the only ones capable of shooting down Israel’s beloved ‘bunker busters’, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).
These extremely heavy bombs of over thirteen thousand kilos can penetrate the ground to a depth of about 60 meters, after which a (delayed) explosion follows. By throwing multiple projectiles, the deepening impact is greater. Iran's intended development location would be almost a hundred meters deep.
Whether it will be enough to damage Iranian installations in the mountainous Fordow remains to be seen and will probably only become clear later. Trump has already taken a step forward. According to him, the attack was successful and a “spectacular military success”, in cooperation or at least in close consultation with Jerusalem. On the Israeli news channel i24, studio guests spoke of “history being made today”.
American media reports of at least twelve bunker busters, the MOP bombs, being dropped. Trump stated that he wanted to leave it at that for now, although that will also depend on the reaction of the 'bully of the Middle East'."About 75 precision missiles were deployed. We were able to maintain the element of surprise the whole time because the Iranian defenses did not see us because of our distractions," says Dan Caine, chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the American army.
In total, more than 125 U.S. military aircraft were deployed, including reconnaissance planes, fighter jets, tankers and seven stealth B-2 bombers. “No other military could have done what we did.”
Two other Iranian nuclear centrifuge and enrichment facilities, in Natanz and Isfahan, were also attacked Sunday night, including with 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles, Trump told Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.
The “targeted, infallible, precise strike” was not aimed at Iranian military personnel or civilian targets, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed in a speech, but only “at Iran’s nuclear program.” “He seeks peace, and Iran should follow that path,” Hegseth said of his boss Trump.
According to a BBC reporter in Iran, witnesses in the area said that"heavy explosions" could be heard in the country. Israeli President Isaac Herzog pleaded on the channel for keeping an"exit strategy" open.
The long-range missiles were initially launched from US submarines and ships in the Gulf region. With a speed of almost 900 km per hour, these missiles are perfectly capable of evading air defenses. The question is also how Iran is doing defensively, now that Israel has struck hundreds of military targets, including air defense systems. The Israeli Defense Forces reported on Sunday that they have again located and struck Iranian launchers.
Despite the American military superiority and presence in the explosive region, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not hold back from threatening language and action towards Israel in revenge for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attack last Friday. Tehran is also using big words now, but for now seems to stand alone against the 'small and big satan' - Israel and the United States.
