How US military could destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear site
The ‘Mop’ bomb is capable of penetrating the mountain that houses Tehran’s fortified facility, analysts say.
President Trump will have one mission on his mind if he decides to join the war against Iran - destroying Fordow, its most heavily fortified nuclear site.
Buried deep beneath a mountain, only the Americans have the weapon capable of annihilating it.
The 13.6-tonne class GBU-57/B, otherwise known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb (Mop), has a thick steel outer casing that can penetrate fortifications up to 60m below ground.
It is delivered by the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the only aircraft in the US air force inventory that is certified to carry the “bunker-buster” bomb, which has never been fired in anger.
Without the bomb and the aircraft, Israel can inflict substantial damage on the Fordow uranium enrichment plant in central Iran - and might even render it inoperable by blocking entry points to the mountain - but it cannot destroy the facility, experts believe. Israel has GBU-28 bunker-busters that can penetrate “only” 6m of concrete.
Matthew Savill, the director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said there were two options for a potential attack on Fordow: the GBU-57/B, or a “wild card” operation in the form of Mossad agents launching a surprise ground assault. The latter would require a great deal of imagination and planning.
“One [Mop] probably wouldn’t do it - you want several - and to launch them in one go,” he said on the fringes of the land warfare conference at Rusi in Whitehall.
More than 3,000 miles away at the Pentagon, military planners were drawing up options for going after the heavily guarded site that is situated close to the holy city of Qom and is one of three main locations for Iran’s nuclear programme, which is regarded by Israel as a covert military project and therefore an existential threat.
British military sources believe the Pentagon may want to use Diego Garcia, the UK-US base in the Indian Ocean, as a staging post for any US operation aimed at Iran.
A senior British military source said: “If there is a US response, it is likely some of the bombers will come from Diego Garcia.”
It appears to be a less risky option than basing the bombers at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the largest local US airbase, which might come under attack by Iran more easily and would require the approval of Qatar, a Royal Air Force source said.
It would also remove the need to refuel the aircraft on the journey to and from Iran. “There’s a big runway and it’s an ideal location. This gives you stand-off range and protection by distance. They could deploy somewhere closer to the region but that puts them in harm’s way,” the source said.
For the US to use the base off the tip of India, about 2,300 miles from Iran, Trump will have to seek permission from Sir Keir Starmer, it is understood.
A US military source said: “Diego Garcia is under the UK’s sovereign control. We ask for permission for any activities involving Diego Garcia.” There has been no such request so far, sources said.
Satellite imagery from the satellite company Planet Labs, reviewed by The War Zone website, revealed that four B-52 strategic bombers and six F-15Es, plus other aircraft, were at Diego Garcia this week. The B-52, a long-range subsonic bomber, has tested the Mop but it has not been cleared to carry it in combat.
There was no obvious sign of the B-2 stealth bombers, although a handful had been in Diego Garcia in May and they are regularly deployed there.
The US could, in theory, deploy the B-2s straight from continental America to Iran and back again, refuelling, if necessary, on the way. This would not require the approval of allies.
Those cautioning restraint pointed out that the Mops do not guarantee success. “It would require multiple bombings of some sites in Iran, in particular Fordow,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a think tank in Washington.
“There is no guarantee that the site would be destroyed or damaged beyond repair so it is a risk. There is also a lot we don’t know about Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles. It could have been moved to different locations.”
The only way of knowing exactly what damage has been done after any B-2 raids would be to deploy special forces to assess it, she added, which would place American boots on the ground in Iran and up the ante.
Trump has said that an Iranian attack on any of the numerous American bases in the Middle East would provoke a response.
Additional US warplanes were reported on Tuesday to be heading to bases within striking range of Iran in Europe.
A second carrier strike group, the USS Nimitz, has been rerouted from the South China Sea to the Middle East, although it will be several days before it arrives.
It would join the USS Carl Vinson, from which F-18 warplanes can be launched to carry out strikes in Iran.
Al Udeid is the largest local US airbase, serving as the forward headquarters for US Central Command. There are also bases at Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
From these, F-35s can run sorties over Iran. It is America’s most sophisticated aircraft but it is also part of the Israeli arsenal. Despite the superiority that Israeli pilots have established over the skies of Tehran, they are reported to be using the older and less advanced F-15s and F-16s.
Aside from showing the Iranians that they will be punished for attacking American targets, “the Israelis have already established that they can hit the targets inside Iran, so it is unclear what the US would add by joining conventional attacks”, said Kavanagh.
The Times
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