Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
Personally, I am surprised by this bcos I have always thought Israel already has access to a good amount of US-made arsenal, including bunker buster bombs. And with that capacity, Israel has always been the US' ME attack dog, taking on all the dirty jobs that the US is "too good" to carry out themselves so that the US doesn't draw any direct ire from the international community.
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https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/17/middl...irc_end_recirc
-based on this article's info. about the Fordow underground nuclear site, the US would need multiple bunker buster bombs to try to destroy that facility.
Five tunnels burrowing into a group of mountains, a large support structure and a wide security perimeter: That’s all you can see of Iran’s mysterious Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant from recent satellite imagery.
The secretive, heavily guarded complex built close to the holy city of Qom has been fueling speculation about its true nature and size since it was first made public in 2009.
A chunk of what we do know about it comes from a trove of Iranian documents stolen years ago by Israeli intelligence.
Its main halls are an estimated 80 to 90 meters (around 262 to 295 feet) beneath the ground – safe from any aerial bomb known to be possessed by Israel, making destroying the facility from the air a near-impossible task.
As Iran’s leadership reels from a series of devastating Israeli strikes, some analysts say that it is at Fordow that Iran may rush to convert enriched uranium stockpiles into a nuclear bomb.
It would not even be reachable by the US’ GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrator bombs, which only reach about 60 meters deep, according to the RUSI report. And the GBU-57 can only be delivered by US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers, something Israel doesn’t have – even if the US would give it the bombs.