DUBAI: The US military this month released pictures of a powerful bomb designed to destroy underground uranium enrichment facilities deep in the earth amid heightened tensions with Iran over its nuclear program. On May 2, the US Air Force released rare photographs of this weapon, the GBU-57, better known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator”. However, he later deleted the pictures. This was probably done because the photographs revealed sensitive information about the structure and firepower of the weapon.
The photos were published after the Associated Press reported that Iran is continuing to build a nuclear facility that may be beyond the firepower of the GBU-57, considered the US military’s ultimate weapon for targeting underground bunkers. Is. The US developed the ‘Massive Ordnance Penetrator’ in the 2000s as concerns grew about Iran strengthening its nuclear sites underground.
The Air Force posted pictures of the bombs on the Facebook page of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. B-2 ‘Stealth Bombers’ are deployed at this base. B-2 is the only aircraft that can fire this bomb. Along with the pictures, the base said it had received two ‘Massive Ordnance Penetrator’ bombs so that a squadron there could ‘test their performance’. The Air Force, however, did not answer questions as to why it posted pictures of the weapon and then removed it.
