(Based on staff post rom the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 22 June 2025.)
Dropped from a B-2 stealth bomber flying at about
12 km altitude, the bomb accelerates purely from gravity—no engine required.
Guided by satellite and steered using movable tail fins, its immense weight
creates intense kinetic energy on impact, driving the hardened casing up to 60
meters underground. A delayed fuse then detonates 2,400 kg of explosives deep
below the surface.
Donal Trump ordered the deployment of six B-2
bombers that attacked Iran’s deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow with
13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate 60 metres of
rock.
The United States has bombed three nuclear sites inside Iran, with Donald Trump warning any future attacks will be "far greater and a lot easier. I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," he said during a late-night White House address tonight. "Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."
The extent of the damage at the Fordow, Natanz, and
Isfahan sites could not be independently verified. The US Air Force's B-2
Spirit stealth bombers were involved in the strikes, with Reuters reporting six
bunker-buster bombs were used on the Fordow research site buried deep in the
hills of Iran.
Mr Trump called the moment historic "for the
US, Israel, and the world" and said: "Iran must now agree to end this
war". After dropping the bombs, Mr Trump said now was the time for peace,
but Reuters is reporting an Iranian state television commentator declared:
"Every American citizen and military personnel in the region is now a
target."
Officials and state media in Iran downplayed the
damage, claims that also could not be independently verified.
Bombers fly east
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers were used to drop the
GBU-57s — marking the first time the bombs have been used in an operation. The
bombs reach depths of up to 60 metres before exploding. The US’s entire fleet
of B-2s operates out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
It took 18 hours for the bombers to reach their
target, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan
Caine. Including the flight back to the US, it was the longest B-2 mission
since 2001.
The mission included flying a number of bombers
west over the Pacific as decoys — which were able to be tracked by some
aviation enthusiasts. General Caine said more than 125 aircraft were involved
in the mission — including fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets.
Trump Tricks Iran With Two Weeks Speech
Donald Trump basically tricked Iran (including the recalcitrant US media) and achieved total surprise by his two-weeks-still-thinking speech while he had already ordered the strategic bombing action by Bunker-Busting B2 bombers.