# 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:** 3
**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 19, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/41 "2025-06-19T13:37:07Z")
Ah, right, and the MOAB is a fuel-air explosive, if I recall? That probably wouldn’t be effective for a ground-penetrator. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/42 "2025-06-19T13:40:47Z")
I assume the ground penetration relies on the momentum from falling out of the sky? IE, you couldn’t bomb anything that moves around the site, land a C-130, wheel the bomb into place, take off, and set it off? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/43 "2025-06-19T14:00:45Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I assume the ground penetration relies on the momentum from falling out of the sky? Plus the sectional density (small diameter versus massive drop weight) and hardened structure to survive impact rather than squashing like a tin can dropped from a height. The penetration occurs before the explosive detonates. AFAIK, the fuse in these things is designed to trigger only after the bomb comes to a complete stop. (Some more sophisticated penetrators can count impact shocks and detonate on a specific underground sublevel after punching through multiple floors.) A penetration bomb is a distinct thing and nothing does the same job the same way. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/44 "2025-06-19T14:05:53Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > With Isreal establishing air superiority over Iran now, it seems like this is a more plausible strategy. No need to involve the US and all the baggage that brings, no messy nukes, precision destruction of the target with all collateral environmental risk contained under a mountain. The primary prerequisite for most commando raids is the element of surprise. I think that bird has flown. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/45 "2025-06-19T14:20:24Z")
I don’t think we’re talking about surprising Iran any more. I think its just “We’re coming in to destroy this facility. Clear the area or be killed.” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/46 "2025-06-19T14:21:11Z")
For that matter, why are people reading about “bunker busters” and “stealth bombers” in mainstream news media? Because they are going to be used? Or because they are definitely not going to be used? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/47 "2025-06-19T14:24:15Z")
It would be more like an invasion than a commando raid, I’m not sure it would be practicable, even with complete air supremacy. Suppose the Iranians move several divisions into the area, could Israel stop them purely with air strikes?, I don’t think Israel has the air lifting capabilities needed to move the amount of troops necessary to stop a determined assault. On the other hand they don’t need to stay there for too long, so land as much troops as possible, destroy everything inside the facility and get out before being overwhelmed… It would be a very risky gamble, I don’t think they’ll try. ---
**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 19, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/48 "2025-06-19T14:40:02Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > For that matter, why are people reading about “bunker busters” and “stealth bombers” in mainstream news media? Because they are going to be used? Or because they are definitely not going to be used? Because they could be used, and because some people want them to be used. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/49 "2025-06-19T14:43:13Z")
But the people who would have to use them would have to be the US Air Force Global Strike Command, and that would be a huge escalation. Hence the “some people” but not “the government of Israel”, at least not as an official position AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/50 "2025-06-19T15:02:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Destroying the entrances would trap people inside, but it would leave the facility intact. Yeah this. Also presumably they’ve thought of this and there are much more than four centrally located entrances. They will have other hidden entrances further away. > [@Broomstick](#): > > We also don’t know what sort of survival supplies are inside Since Osirak the primary design goal of a nuclear facility in the Middle East has been “must survive Israeli air strike”. So I’m sure they have designed it to last long enough survive until any bombed entrances are repaired. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/51 "2025-06-19T15:29:45Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > For that matter, why are people reading about “bunker busters” and “stealth bombers” in mainstream news media? Because they are going to be used? Or because they are definitely not going to be used? The point is, as I understand it, Israel does not have sufficiently powerful bunker busters but the US does. So it’s a reason for the US to get dragged into the war. Again all these facilities have been designed with the express purpose of surviving a bunker buster, though conversely American bunker busters are designed with the express purpose of destroying Iranian nuclear facilities. ---
**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 19, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/52 "2025-06-19T16:07:25Z")
Adjacent question: how certain is it that (say) two of the bunker buster bombs would do the job (i.e. destroy the facility enough to satisfy Israel)? I was listening to an interview on NPR yesterday and there seemed to be some doubt, possibly because intelligence doesn’t know how deep the facility actually is. Has this bomb previously ever been used (or tested) on a target that is anything like this deep inside a mountain? ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/53 "2025-06-19T17:34:18Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > The B-52 bomber had a payload of 30-35,000 pounds as designed in 1949, and with current engines & modifications is now rated for up to 70,000 pounds of ordinance. And we have a whole airfield in Arizona full of mothballed B-52s we could sell to Israel. Probably cheaply. > > Not being stealth, a B-52 would need fighter escort to avoid Iran’s defenses. > But I believe Israel has a fair number of experienced fighters available. Indeed, the the GBU-57A MOP was tested in 2009 with a B-52. There’s even a pic at Wikipedia. The test bomb may have weighed less (??why??), but still. B-52s could presumably be configured to launch the bomb, should the US want to do that, timeline unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/54 "2025-06-19T17:57:27Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Adjacent question: how certain is it that (say) two of the bunker buster bombs would do the job (i.e. destroy the facility enough to satisfy Israel)? This is the fundamental problem with an air and missile attack plan. “Bomb damage assessment” has been a thing for decades now, and is often more imaginative than accurate. Until you get people on the ground, you’re never really sure how much real damage you’ve done, and so we’ll never be quite sure their program is completely disabled. ---
**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 19, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/55 "2025-06-19T18:21:29Z")
Perhaps the Iranian government duplicated the enrichment facility somewhere else? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/56 "2025-06-19T18:43:00Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > In general deploying bombs isn’t a trivial undertaking. Hold tight, almost there! [![](https://av8rblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/8-pilots-dropping-bombs-by-hand.jpg) ](https://av8rblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/8-pilots-dropping-bombs-by-hand.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/57 "2025-06-19T22:00:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Israel maintains a policy of [deliberate ambiguity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberate_ambiguity), never officially denying nor admitting to having nuclear weapons Which is what everyone just told you. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > instead repeating over the years that “Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the [Middle East](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East)”. [Nuclear weapons and Israel - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israel) Which is 1) not a statement of ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons and 2) is at best a meaningless statement and at worst a lie, since Israel already has introduced nuclear weapons to the Middle East. The only countries that have a declared no first use policy with regards to nuclear weapons are China and India. Every other nation with a declared nuclear arsenal has specifically stated that there are conditions under which it will use nuclear weapons either in a first use against a nuclear armed opponent or against a non-nuclear armed opponent. ---
**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 19, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/58 "2025-06-19T22:50:49Z")
I recall they built this sort of weapon during the Iraq war to take out a bunker 50 feet underground covered by solid concrete. The design was a huge front end of solid steel followed by a delayed-fuse bomb. The manufacture was top secret, but the factory workers were not stupid - one painted the name on it … “The Saddamizer” Apparently it did the job. I have read news reports that said the facility was built into the side of a mountain, also, and a long distance down, making it fairly impervious. but obviously intelligence experts seem to thingk these bunker-busters will work. > [@Babale](#): > > > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > > > Israel has considered placing bombs deep inside the mountain with commando raids, but those are obviously risky. > > According to a claim made in a WSJ opinion piece, there was a planned commando raid to do exactly that that was compromised and scuttled by some of the leaks from Tulsi Gabbard’s office. Because the Iranians never considered the possibility until they found out from the Americans? I would be surprised if there was ever any laxity or shortage of defense troops. The only chance this _might_ have had was if it happened as a surprise before the first wave of attacks. > [@Broomstick](#): > > . Basically turning the “nuclear facility” into a dirty bomb site. I’m surprised the Iranians have not (yet) at least threatened the use of dirty bombs. That doesn’t take a lot of technology. Israel would then be helping them out with anti-missile munitions creating high-altitude wide dispersal bursts. Presumably the Iranians have a decent amount of nuclear waste sitting around. ---
**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 19, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/59 "2025-06-19T23:01:37Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Because the Iranians never considered the possibility until they found out from the Americans? I would be surprised if there was ever any laxity or shortage of defense troops. From the Iranian POV there’s a lot of difference between expecting that a competent enemy might try a commando raid at any time during the conflict and having reliable detailed information about a particular raid in a particular strength at a particular time with a particular objective. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/60 "2025-06-19T23:19:34Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I’m surprised the Iranians have not (yet) at least threatened the use of dirty bombs. That doesn’t take a lot of technology. Israel would then be helping them out with anti-missile munitions creating high-altitude wide dispersal bursts. Presumably the Iranians have a decent amount of nuclear waste sitting around. Radionuclide “dirty bombs” are a terror weapon. They can made a (small) region dangerous to inhabit but they don’t destroy infrastructure, catastrophically damage conventional forces en masse, eliminate the leadership of the opposing nation, or function as any kind of counterforce weapon to an opponent’s nuclear arsenal. Deploying radionuclide weapons _would_ provide all the justification needed for Israel to retaliate with nuclear weapons, however, and Iran has essentially no defense or ability to protect its civilian population. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792.md?page=4)