# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/121 "2025-06-21T16:58:20Z")
How much are you willing to soup it up? The MOP is 6 times heavier than anything else the F-15I carries (the GBU-28, also a penetrating bomb), and 3200 kilos over its total payload capacity. It’s about the same diameter as the 610-gallon drop tank the F-15 can carry on its centerline pylon so apparently ground clearance wouldn’t be be an issue but I am not sure how I’d feel about having something that weighed significantly more than my airplane bolted to that pylon. (It’s about twice the total capacity of an F-35) ---
**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 21, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/122 "2025-06-21T18:55:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > ::: psst! It’s FORdo, not Frodo :::: Humor is lost on some… Actually, what I saw in another article was “Fordow”. > [@DETXL](#): > > How much are you willing to soup it up? Again, how much do you want to start modifying the airframe so that two or three points can hold as much as the total payload? What do you cut, what do you weld to, what does it do to weight and balance and handling, what if you have to land loaded, etc.? They have engineers for that, but it’s not trivial. Partly, too, I assume there’s a serious aiming and targeting component to such a bomb. It may be primarily ballistics, but I assme any precision munition nowadays includes a means to identify and steer to a specific spot; and the electronics and controls for that? Or is bomb dropping so precise that while travelling 880 ft/sec with arbitrary winds you can release and drop a bomb within a few feet of target without guidance? What are those mountains made of? I guess that’s an interesting question too. And if nobody’s going to physically invade - well, the assumption in 1993 was that Saddam would cave or be assassinated shortly if they kept up the isolation and occasional air attacks; that didn’t happen. Meanwhile, North Korea is the poster child for “having bombs keep you safe”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/123 "2025-06-21T19:04:03Z")
I’m just spitballing here: how about you make a basket? Build a large, rigid basket, made out of carbon fiber or some other strong and light material, and attach it to multiple hardpoints at the bottom of the aircraft simultaneously. That basket will cradle the bomb, bearing its weight until it’s dropped. Obviously there are myriad problems to solve, including aerodynamics, adjusting mass, and releasing the payload in a safe and effective manner, but in theory, it’s not _too_ crazy, is it? ---
**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 21, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/124 "2025-06-21T19:07:01Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m just spitballing here: how about you make a basket? Build a large, rigid basket, made out of carbon fiber or some other strong and light material, and attach it to multiple hardpoints at the bottom of the aircraft simultaneously. That basket will cradle the bomb, bearing its weight until it’s dropped. Obviously there are myriad problems to solve, including aerodynamics, adjusting mass, and releasing the payload in a safe and effective manner, but in theory, it’s not _too_ crazy, is it?. Go full crazy: two jets carrying an aerodynamic basket together using tethers. ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/125 "2025-06-21T19:16:17Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Partly, too, I assume there’s a serious aiming and targeting component to such a bomb. It may be primarily ballistics, but I assme any precision munition nowadays includes a means to identify and steer to a specific spot; and the electronics and controls for that? Or is bomb dropping so precise that while travelling 880 ft/sec with arbitrary winds you can release and drop a bomb within a few feet of target without guidance? From a purely FQ point of view, sort of, yes. The GBU-57 uses a combination of GPS and inertial guidance. In the general sense, JDAMs (Joint Directed Attack Munitions, an addon kit to convert unguided bombs into precision-guided ones) that rely on GPS coordinates can just be preprogrammed before takeoff and the bombs released at once without needing to program each one at the time. This is more useful, obviously, with stationary targets, but it is hard to get more stationary than a mountain. In any case, lofted JDAMs can have a range in the tens of nautical miles depending on the altitude and speed of the aircraft deploying them. I do not know how well the GBU-57 glides and I would be even less enthusiastic about lofting it than just carrying it around. But the targeting should not be an issue. Similarly, unless it’s changed, the fighter aircraft the Ukrainian Air Force has aren’t capable of talking directly to the antiradiation missiles they were given, so the missiles are simply preprogrammed with some set of target parameters and then fired in the right general area for the missile to do the rest of the hard work. This sort of thing is not uncommon with, in particular, air forces that are obligated to improvise. The Colombian Air Force flies [A-37 Dragonflies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_A-37_Dragonfly) as counterinsurgency aircraft; this is a Vietnam-era plane that the USAF continued using mostly as a jet trainer. In Colombian service it has been adapted to drop guided weapons; the coordinates are transferred via Bluetooth using Raytheon’s WiPAK (Wireless Paveway Avionics Kit, I believe). > [@Alessan](#): > > but in theory, it’s not _too_ crazy, is it? I mean, as long as I’m not the one flying it, do whatever you want. (I can’t fly anyway) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/126 "2025-06-21T19:20:35Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Go full crazy: two jets carrying an aerodynamic basket together using tethers. African jets or European jets? ###### (spoiler for the uninitiated: : it's a Monty Python reference) ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/127 "2025-06-22T00:12:59Z")
We may soon find out what a bunker buster bomb can do to that facility. ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/128 "2025-06-22T00:19:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m just spitballing here: how about you make a basket? Build a large, rigid basket, made out of carbon fiber or some other strong and light material, and attach it to multiple hardpoints at the bottom of the aircraft simultaneously. The first issue I notice with that is that those cables would put significant sideways forces on the hardpoints, probably greater than the vertical forces. I’m sure that hardpoints are rated to handle some amount of sideways forces, since you don’t want bombs falling off just from maneuvers, but I doubt they can handle that much. ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/129 "2025-06-22T00:22:42Z")
To be clear, Trump claims to have dropped bombs at several sites including Fordow. **CNN Excerpt:** _The US has struck three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, US President Donald Trump said on social media on Saturday evening, as the conflict between Israel and Iran enters its second week._ > **[Live Updates: U.S. Enters War With Iran, Bombing Key Nuclear Sites](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/21/world/iran-israel-trump?unlocked_article_code=1.Q08.WreA.6L9x89LUVsXI&smid=url-share)** > > President Trump announced the United States had struck Fordo, Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facilities, as well as two other sites. > **[Israel claims killing of Iranian commander as conflict enters second week | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-21-25-intl-hnk)** > > Israel claimed the killing of two commanders in Iran’s elite Quds Force. Multiple US B-2 bombers are headed west, according to flight-tracking data, as Trump considers a potential US strike in Iran. Follow for live news updates. ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/130 "2025-06-22T00:24:50Z")
The president is scheduled to address the nation at 10pm Eastern Time today. ---
**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 22, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/131 "2025-06-22T00:26:15Z")
Trump claims “now is the time for peace”. I did not think this would happen so quickly. We’ll see what Trump says tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/132 "2025-06-22T01:07:36Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The only way to get the MOP onto the bunker anytime real soon is for the US to do it with a B2 bomber. Reports say B2 bombers sent in. Any reason for B2s other than MOP? ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/133 "2025-06-22T01:26:49Z")
B-52 would be the other option. Radar cross section of the B-52 is about 100 meters squared. For the B-2 it is about .0001 meters squared. Nothing Iran has would even see them until they opened their bomb doors. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/134 "2025-06-22T01:28:21Z")
Trump claimed “now is the time for peace”? Now he says US bombed 3 nuclear plants in Iran. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/135 "2025-06-22T01:30:53Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Trump claims “now is the time for peace”. I did not think this would happen so quickly. We’ll see what Trump says tonight. Everyone has a plan for peace until he belts someone in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/136 "2025-06-22T01:33:41Z")
I meant B2 vs. drones or cruise missiles. MOP seems the only reason to send in an actual bomber. ---
**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 22, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/137 "2025-06-22T01:37:11Z")
According to Fox News, six bunker buster bombs were dropped on Fordo. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/138 "2025-06-22T01:37:49Z")
I’d imagine also that the moment of takeoff would represent a terribly forceful yank on the airplane; the moment when that huge bomb goes from sitting idle on the runway in the basket to being dragged and eventually lifted airborne - it might be strong enough to yank out whole components of the airplane’s hardpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/139 "2025-06-22T01:54:17Z")
Ah yes. The underground complex couldn’t be breached by standard cruise missile. ---
**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 22, 2025, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792/140 "2025-06-22T09:45:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > According to Fox News, six bunker buster bombs were dropped on Fordo. Wonder if they actually got the job done or not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-bunker-buster-bomb-can-bust-irans-fordo-nuclear-complex-really/1019792.md?page=8)