An unprecedented attack, for means and objectives. On the night between Friday and Saturday, the United States hardly hit the main plants of the Iranian nuclear program. To confirm the action was the same head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, who spoke of a “devastating” operation and an “overwhelming success”. At the center of the offensive, among the most powerful weapons ever used in an operating theater: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, bombs designed to penetrate deeply in the ground and destroy underground structures underground.
The GBU-57 Mop: the “Mangia-Bunker bomb”
The GBU-57, nicknamed Mop (Massive Ordnance Penetrator), is a bomb of about 13 tons led by the GPS system. Developed to affect objectives buried in depth – such as the hidden nuclear sites of Iran – it can pierce over 18 meters of reinforced concrete or more than 60 meters of earth before exploding.
To transport and unhook the MOP, the use of the B -2 Spirit, stealth bombers capable of evading the radars and penetrating deeply in the hostile territories is required. According to Pentagon sources mentioned by Business Insider and Bild, several B –2 have taken off from US bases to hit Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan plants, three nerve centers of the Iranian uranium enrichment.
It is the first time that the GBU -57 is used in a real combat context, after years of tests and simulations.
Rain of Tomahawk
Together with the anti-Bunker bombs, the Pentagon launched about thirty Tomahawk missiles from submarine in the Persian Gulf. These are long -haul cruise missiles, extremely precise, used to hit command structures and aerial defenses. The goal, explain official sources, was neutralize every obstacle before the bombers entry.
The entire operation, baptized by military commands such as “Operation Midnight Hammer”, was coordinated with the parallel action of Israel, which hit other objectives on Iranian soil.
Strategic message
The attack was presented not as an act of total war, but as a targeted response to “reset” Tehran’s military nuclear capacity. No conventional civil or military objective has been affected, as reiterated by Hegseth himself. However, President Donald Trump, in a message published on Truth Social, warned Iran: «Be smart. Any reprisal will trigger even greater force ».
Escalation risk
The Iranian authorities have not yet announced the official financial statements or announced countermeasures. But the pressure for an answer grows in Tehran, feeding the fear of a new military escalation in the Middle East. Meanwhile, experts and analysts ask themselves about the real effectiveness of the GBU-57 against bunkers built with ultra-resistant cement. And if the attack really has achieved the goal of completely disabled the Iranian nuclear program, or just delay it.
What is certain is that, with this operation, the United States raised the bar, using the most powerful conventional weapon of their arsenal and showing that, in the underground war for nuclear deterrence, they are ready to hit first – and strongly.