This is The Massive Ordnance Penetrator
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That would involve the use of a weapon that the United States possesses but Israel does not: a 30,000-pound bomb known as a bunker buster.
What is the Massive Ordnance Penetrator?
The U.S. Air Force developed the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, to penetrate underground defenses.
The United States began designing the weapon in 2004, during the George W. Bush administration, specifically to attack nuclear facilities constructed deep beneath mountains in Iran and North Korea. It was tested and added to the U.S. arsenal during Mr. Trump’s first term.
The bomb has a much thicker steel case and contains a smaller amount of explosives than similarly sized general-purpose bombs. The heavy casings allow the munition to stay intact as it punches through soil, rock or concrete before detonating.
Its size and weight — 20 feet long and 30,000 pounds — means that only the American B-2 stealth bomber can carry it. While Israel has fighter jets, it has not developed heavy bombers capable of carrying the weapon.
The U.S. military has concluded that one bomb would not destroy the Fordo facility on its own; an attack would have to come in waves, with B-2s releasing one bomb after another down the same hole.
Reporting was contributed by Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, Francesca Regalado, Samuel Granados, Steven Erlanger, Francesca Regalado, Patrick Kingsley, Bora Erden, Marco Hernandez, Karen Yourish and Alexandra E. Petri.
Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization. She also covers Iran and has written about conflict in the Middle East for 15 years.
Patrick Kingsley is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges.
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