The Pentagon on Thursday unveiled footage of the 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs used in the recent strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure—offering the clearest view yet of how the U.S. military demolished fortified underground targets with surgical precision and overwhelming force. The video, aired during a press briefing at the Pentagon, shows a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)—also known as the GBU-57—slicing through layers of reinforced material before erupting into a blinding inferno deep below the earth’s surface. The test detonation captured a momentary shockwave of light and dust that one pilot described as “the brightest explosion I’ve ever seen. It literally looked like daylight.” The footage underscores the devastating power of the U.S. Air Force’s most secretive and destructive conventional bomb, a weapon developed to reach and annihilate the kinds of hardened nuclear facilities Iran has spent decades burying under mountains. “This isn’t your typical surface blast,” said Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressing reporters. “These bombs are engineered to penetrate deep into the earth, bypassing surface layers before detonating with massive overpressure and internal blast—right where it matters most.” The Pentagon confirmed that the weapons used in the Iran operation were GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators—non-nuclear bombs designed specifically to destroy deeply buried facilities like Fordow, the heavily fortified Iranian uranium enrichment site first exposed in 2009. “These weapons were created for missions like this,” said Caine. “And all six bombs at each vent of the Fordow complex went exactly where they were intended to go.” The bombs, which can only be delivered by the stealth-capable B-2 Spirit bomber, were dropped during last week’s coordinated strike by the U.S. and Israel against Iran’s nuclear program—marking the most significant use of the MOP since its development. During the briefing, a second slow-motion video was shown of a MOP slicing through the arched ceiling of a ventilation shaft, traveling deeper without detonating—highlighting the bomb’s layered detonation design, which ensures maximum impact at depth rather than on impact. The rare public display of the weapon’s capabilities was not accidental. U.S. defense officials framed the release of the footage as both a post-strike explanation and a strategic warning. “This footage makes clear to Iran—and to anyone else watching—that there is no bunker deep enough,” said one senior defense official, speaking on background. “We know where your facilities are. And now you know we can reach them.” Lt. Gen. Caine broke down the MOP’s kill mechanisms: a combination of overpressure, internal blast, and precision fragmentation. “We’re not looking for surface craters—we’re aiming to implode internal structures and systems, to render them non-functional at a structural level,” he said. Military analysts note that the release of the footage not only justifies the strike’s efficacy but also sends a clear message to adversaries watching closely: the U.S. retains the unmatched ability to strike fortified facilities from halfway across the world—and do it without nuclear weapons. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)