The clash in Iran is constantly evolving and just a few days ago the United States they have Challenged 14 Anti-Bunker bombs On two key sites of the Iranian nuclear program through the Midnight Hammer operation, that is midnight hammer. The two sites attacked with these bombs are those of Natanz and Fordow, where the uranium is enriched. Both these sites are located in depth but, while Natanz’s is found to about twenty meters from the surfacethat of Fordow is ad At least 70-80 meters deep And therefore it is very complicated to be eliminated with traditional weapons. Precisely for this reason the United States to support Israel with their anti-Bunker bombs GBU-57A/B MOPreleased “Only” 2 on Natanz and well 12 On Fordow. Inside the mission, 30 cruise missiles were also launched from the American submarine Georgia to the Isfahan website, which is where the raw uranium is worked.
Donald Trump announced a cease-fire 24 hours in the war between Israel and Iran, even if according to Israel it may have been violated (but Tehran denies).
The characteristics of anti-Bunker bombs
The bomb used in this attack is the GBU-57A/B MOP. It is a guided, long device 6.2 meters and weighing about 14 tonsof which over four and a half only of explosive. The peculiarity of this weapon is its great penetrating ability. Considered it is believed to penetrate up to 60 meters of land or 18 of reinforced concretewhich are absolutely out of scale values for any other weapon. How is this possible?
Everything stems from the combination of 3 factors:
- It is released at high altitudes, usually 12 km, and therefore acquires a lot of speed;
- He has a really important mass, and therefore manages to hit the ground with a great kinetic energy, which allows him to penetrate deeply;
- is covered with a particular alloy of steel called Englin Es-1 Which is very resistant and allows the weapon not to damage during the perforation of the soil.
In this way the MOP bomb can also reach structures placed a Tens of meters deepdetonating only when the expected depth has been achieved and maximizing the damage. Obviously the numbers presented are nothing but estimates, given that at the moment the exact technical specifications of the weapon are not public. Even if they are estimates, they still help us have a slightly clearer idea of its power and above all of its usefulness on the battlefield.
It is a huge bomb, so imposing that to date there is only one means able to transport it, that is, the bomber B-2 Spirit.
The characteristics of the B-2 Spirit
From a technical point of view, the Northrop Groumman B-2 Spirit is a strategic bomber that measures 21 meters long For 5 of height And 52 of wing opening. Can travel at a speed of 972 km/h and has an autonomy of 11,600 km without refueling – Even if, if desired, he can still refuel in flight. It can also transport up to 22 tons of war load until 15,000 meters above sea level.
What makes it unique is not only its ability to transport well Two anti-Bunker bombs at a timebut above all that of being invisible to most enemy defenses, thanks to advanced Stealth Systems which incorporate both materials difficult to identify with radar and a particular form that evades defensive systems. In fact, it is precisely designed to be able to arrive in a hostile territory also on the other side of the world, achieve its goal without being identified by the enemy radars, release the load of bombs and flee before the enemy has time to react to the attack. From this point of view, B2 is an almost perfect mix of invisibility, flight speed and transport capacity.
But how does the B-2 a evade radar? After all, it is a beast as wide as half a football field that can weigh up to 170 tons.
The first reason lies in coating applied to all its external structure, which is composed of a highly top secret material capable of almost completely absorb the radio waves emitted by the radars. If these are not reflected, in fact, the aircraft it cannot be detected. The B-2 is almost invisible for its design, designed to leave as little trace as possible than his passage. To see it from above It almost looks like a single wing: without a fuselage or tail or turbines in sight, and with the profile inspired by that of a falcon In the beaten, the aerodynamics is such as to move as little air possible to its passage, even at high speed.
This design involves a remarkable instability During the flight which, however, is compensated by a very complex system of computers that correct the orientation of the plane in real time. The engines are also ingeniously hidden inside the wing structure and are made in such a way as to minimize the formation of air vortices and emissions. All this makes B2 Spirit the state of the art of air stealth technology: think that despite the amount of this bomber, the effective area offered to a radar is just 0.01 meters squares, more or less that of a volatile! That is, this means that this plane is read by the radars as if it were a bird!
In any case, all considered, it should not be surprised that the cost of each unit to date is estimated to be approximately 2 billion euros each – and this also includes the complex and constant maintenance of these aircraft – all owned by the United States.
The performance of the Midnight Hammer operation
Descending a little more in today’s case of Iran, initially it was thought that the seven B2 involved were left from the base Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, but the hypothesis that have taken off from the Whiteman Air Force Base in the United States, thus making refueling in flight. Although on this point we will probably have more detailed information in a few days.
The objectives to be hit, as mentioned above, were mainly the two enrichment sites, Natanz And Fordow. Once the objectives were achieved, the B2 have released the bombs which, in a few moments, have affected the respective targets with extreme precision. The choice to unhook As many as 12 bombs on Fordow And only 2 on Natanz was taken by virtue of the fact that the Fordow site is very found in depth and it is a lot extended, So to hope to do a sufficient amount of damage it is necessary to use many of these devices. And consider that at the moment the United States – at least according to the data we have available – have only 20 of these weapons. And of these 20 as many as 14 were used in one night.
So at this point the question that arises is: how many damage was actually caused to nuclear structures in Iran during this attack?
How damaged the Iran nuclear program was damaged: the results of the operation
On the Social Truth, the president Trump He wrote that all nuclear sites in Iran have suffered damage “monumental“And the Department of Defense declared on X that it was a success.
Of much more cautious opinion is the Iaea that is, of the international agency for atomic energy. As reported by their official press release published on June 22, there was damage on both affected sites, even if the most damaged one is that of Natanz, which in turn was already the most damaged during the previous Israeli bombings. Different speech instead for Fordow. The use of Mop bombs, at least in theory, should have been decisive, but in reality not even Iaea did not have the opportunity to confirm exactly If and how much the anti-Bunker bombs have been able to penetrate and damage the system.
This uncertainty is linked to the fact that the system is very extensive and not only do we do not know precisely how many meters of depth is localized, but we don’t even know what barriers They are present around the tunnels – and consequently it is complicated to estimate the effectiveness of each weapon, at least for the moment. Also because the Mop are bombs that they penetrate the subsoil and the damage do them in depth, so in surface It is not that they leave particularly evident signsif not the holes from which they entered the ground. So even seeing satellite photos it is not so easy to evaluate the actual amount of damage produced.
