US Strikes Iran: MOP Bomb and B-2 Bomber Used in Fordo

Key Points

• 1US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes on three Iranian sites, including the Fordo enrichment facility, as per the recent news.
• 2The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb, weighing approximately 13,000 kg, was used in the strikes on Fordo, which is 300 feet beneath a mountain.
• 3The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, capable of carrying two MOPs, was used in the strikes. It has an unrefueled range of approximately 9,600 kilometers.
• 4The MOP, designed to penetrate deeply buried facilities, was first tested in 2007; the US Air Force has at least 20 of these bombs.
• 5The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has a price tag of almost $1.2 billion and a total of 21 of these stealth bombers were built.
• 6The Fordo site is about 90 meters in depth, and the latest airstrikes in Iran mark the first known use of the MOP in combat.