# Only a bunker buster bomb can bust Iran's Fordo nuclear complex. Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2025, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792 "2025-06-18T06:12:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/181 "2025-06-25T01:55:05Z")
If Iran expected the h by bombing, they might have parked the delicate instruments in a way as to minimize damage. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/182 "2025-06-25T02:07:00Z")
Are you counting volcanoes? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/183 "2025-06-25T02:39:40Z")
So apparently the answer to the title of this thread is: Yes and No. Yes, nothing smaller than a bunker buster bomb can bust Fordo, and No, not even a bunker buster bomb (or 12) can bust Fordo or the other two bunkers. > **Off-topic, hidden** > > Time for Trump to borrow Shrub’s “Mission Accomplished” sign. > > Waiting for Trump to decide that only a nuke or two will do the job, and no-one left who will stand up to him. Then we can all kiss our collective asses good-bye. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/184 "2025-06-25T09:27:10Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > Waiting for Trump to decide that only a nuke or two will do the job, and no-one left who will stand up to him. Then we can all kiss our collective asses good-bye. > > I’m no fan of trump. And I’m no fan of nuclear warfare. But your conclusion utterly does not hold. If shit-for-brains orders a nuke on Fordow, and it happens, your ass in San Francisco will be just fine. As will mine in Miami and everybody else in the USA. > > The world will have entered a new and more dangerous phase. Chickens may eventually come home to roost. But not any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/185 "2025-06-25T10:52:58Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > If someone, somewhere in the world drops a nuke even if there are no more dropped in retaliation a lot of people are going to lose their freakin’ minds I could certainly see injuries and deaths from panic reactions. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/186 "2025-06-25T11:17:12Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > Agreed lotta people and organizations are going to lose their collective shit temporarily. Which will have some permanent consequences. OTH, the end of humanity? Hardly. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/187 "2025-06-25T12:46:34Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > Legitimizing the unilateral use of nuclear weapons in what is not an all-out war (just exchanges of standard explosive missiles and a unilateral action by the USA) and against a non-nuclear opponent would be a major step toward legitimizing their use anywhere, any time. Moscow could find a pretext to use such in Ukraine, and China against Taiwan.(Or Israel in future against Iran or whomever) And where would the West’s “moral superiority” be? > > Iran made their facilities bomb-proof due to threats and past history. Now we live with the consequences. The USA had a deal a decade ago and broke it. Now we live with the consequences. The only question is will a nuclear weapon make Iran more or less crazy? The history with North Korea suggests the rhetoric by them and against them will tone down considerably. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/188 "2025-06-25T13:22:34Z")
[Moderating] FQ is not the place for this sort of speculation. Take it to one of the other threads (we have several). ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/189 "2025-06-28T13:56:05Z")
> **[US’ top general tells lawmakers | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/politics/bunker-buster-bomb-isfahan-iran)** > > The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday. So at least on Isfahan the USA did not even try bunker busters, assessing it was too far underground. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/190 "2025-06-28T14:37:43Z")
Huh, I thought that Fordow was the deepest of their facilities? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/191 "2025-06-28T16:21:10Z")
Possibly because _no one_ mentioned Isfahan in the context of penetration bombing. The decision had already been made, and because of that it wasn’t discussed or publicized, any more than announcing “I’m not going to bail out the Atlantic with a bucket” doesn’t happen. Places like Isfahan are the reason that a nuclear-warhead penetrator keeps coming up in weapons design and acquisition circles. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/192 "2025-06-29T08:33:50Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Places like Isfahan are the reason that a nuclear-warhead penetrator keeps coming up in weapons design and acquisition circles. But the US absolutely already has strategic ground-penetrating nuclear bunker busters in its active stockpile, presumably designed against targets like the Cheyenne Mountain Complex (or Kosvinsky Kamen, you know what I mean…) Theoretical use, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/193 "2025-06-29T23:04:43Z")
Is “off topic, hidden” instigated by a moderator, or the poster? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/194 "2025-06-29T23:13:26Z")
What was inside was what the poster wrote. Since it was off-topic, I hid it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/195 "2025-06-30T15:54:57Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/196 "2025-07-17T18:03:11Z")
Postscript: Defense department assessment indicates Fordo might have been damaged to the point where further enrichment might be postponed by as much as 2 years. For the Natanz and Ishahan nuclear sites, the delay is expected for a few months. So I guess Fordo was the _easier_ target. One policy option which was not chosen involved a multiple week bombing campaign. Still later in the article are reports of late June hearings where the CIA director presented a perspective indicating a more destructive outcome to a congressional committee. > **[New U.S. assessment finds American strikes destroyed only one of three...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/new-us-assessment-finds-american-strikes-destroyed-only-one-three-iran-rcna218761)** > > President Donald Trump rejected a military plan for more comprehensive strikes on Iran’s nuclear program that would have lasted weeks, NBC News has also learned. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/197 "2025-07-18T12:25:02Z")
Christiane Amanpour on her show a few weeks ago replayed her news item from a visit to Fordo from back when the nuclear deal was signed in the Obama administration. There was no mention that it was underground in that report. I presume that means either some of the installation was above ground, or they wanted to obscure that detail. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/198 "2025-08-24T19:25:50Z")
Inteesting analysis and discusion about Fordo in the NY Times: > **[The Invisible Target in Iran](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/fordo-us-iran-nuclear-program-strike.html)** > > It may be quite some time before outside experts can gauge exactly how seriously Fordo was damaged. But a look at the bomb used, the facility’s structure and the site’s geology offers some clues. Maybe paywalled? I have a subscription so I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/199 "2025-08-24T19:40:38Z")
Have you considered a gift link? If you have a subscription, you can do that. You just have to click the little icon that look like a gift-wrapped present and says “Share full article”… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/200 "2025-08-24T20:18:29Z")
Gift Link: > **[The Invisible Target in Iran](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/fordo-us-iran-nuclear-program-strike.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gk8.R72D.Z5crONalGq32&smid=url-share)** > > It may be quite some time before outside experts can gauge exactly how seriously Fordo was damaged. But a look at the bomb used, the facility’s structure and the site’s geology offers some clues. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792.md?page=9)