The U.S. Air Force released on the 2nd a photo of the air-dropped large-scale ground-penetrating bomb GBU-57 known as the “large armory armor-piercing bomb”. This large-scale ground-penetrating ammunition can only be dropped by the U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. The images were quickly removed, likely due to security concerns.
Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, posted an image of GBU-57 on its official Facebook page, according to the Associated Press. The base is home to the B-2 stealth bomber, the only U.S. military bomber that can deploy the GBU-57. The base said it had received two Mass Ordnance Penetrator rounds so that a squadron of munitions there could “test their performance.” However, the air force base deleted the article within a day.
The purpose of the U.S. Air Force’s move is likely to be a kind of “deterrence” against Iran. Because Iran is building an underground nuclear facility in the Natanz Mountains, the U.S. military has demonstrated this weapon capable of penetrating into Iran’s underground nuclear facility. However, the GBU-57 bomb of the US military may not be enough to penetrate the Iranian nuclear facility at a depth of 80 to 100 meters underground.
According to expert analysis, it may be because some parameters of the GBU-57 were leaked that the article was quickly deleted. Experts believe that the immediate removal of articles from the web without comment or justification represents a potential error.
The Associated Press, citing satellite images from the Planetary Laboratory, claimed that Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountains near the Natanz nuclear facility in the center of the country. According to expert analysis, mounds at the excavation site indicate that the facility may be located between 80 and 100 meters underground.
Experts say the scale of the construction project suggests Iran is likely to use underground facilities to enrich uranium, rather than just build centrifuges. Arranged in massive cascades of dozens of machines, these tubular centrifuges are capable of rapidly spinning uranium gas for enrichment. The extra machines would allow Iran to rapidly enrich uranium under the cover of the mountain.
U.S. officials have discussed using two GBU-57 bombs in succession to ensure the target is destroyed. But even so, the newly reached depth of the Natanz tunnel may still pose serious challenges to the US military.
