US strike on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility succeeded as planned, say US officials

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit lands at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, following a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Senior US officials claim the strike was successful despite controversy. (509th Bomb Wing/US Air Force)

The six GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) employed on the US' 22 June strike on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility impacted as planned, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told reporters on 26 June.

Crewed by both active-duty US Air Force (USAF) and Missouri Air National Guard personnel, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits conducted a round-trip flight from Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB), Missouri, to Fordow, and returned to base on 23 June. Most of the crew members were graduates of the USAF's Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada, Gen Caine said.

The bombs were directed at two ventilation shafts that provided air to and vented exhaust from the underground facility. Although Iran spent several days placing concrete caps over the shafts (Gen Caine added that US intelligence agencies knew the thickness of each cap), US planners accounted for them.

“The cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon and the main shaft was uncovered,” Gen Caine said. “Weapons two, three, four, [and] five were tasked to enter the main shaft, move down into the complex at greater than 1,000 ft/s, and explode in the mission space.”