According to multiple reports, the United States has dropped its newest and second most powerful bunker bomb, the GBU-72, on Iranian fortified targets, marking the first time the weapon has been used in combat.
Without formally identifying the bomb, U.S. Central Command said in a March 17 post on
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Mark Weatherington later told CNN that the ammunition was a Guided Bomb Unit-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator. The bombs were dropped at locations along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.
The GBU-72 replaces older bomb versions designed to penetrate deeply buried and hardened underground targets, such as missile bases, command centers, and nuclear facilities, with minimal damage on the ground.
What is a bunker-busting bomb?
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According to Stars and Stripes, the GBU-72 was developed as a successor to the GBU-28, a 5,000-pound bunker buster bomb first used in 1991. It is considered far more lethal than the GBU-28 used in Iraq’s Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
How does the GBU-72 bomb work?
The GBU-72 and GBU-28 can be carried by fighters and bombers, but they are far less powerful than the massive GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster.
Only the U.S.-built B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is programmed to carry the GBU-57, which weighs over 30,000 pounds. Based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the B-2s can each carry two bombs.
It was reported that the Iranian base targeted by GBU-72 on March 17 was equipped with anti-ship cruise missiles and posed a threat to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Contributors Ramon Padilla, Sara Chernikov, USA TODAY
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; US Air Force
