US deletes images of bunker-buster bomb

PICTURES of a powerful United States Air Force (USAF) bomb designed to destroy underground bunkers that could be hiding uranium enrichment have been seen for the first time – before being quickly deleted by the force.

The military released rare images of the GBU-57, also known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, on May 2, before removing them in light of security concerns.

It comes amid growing tensions with Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran is constructing a facility that may be beyond the reach of the specialised weapon, according to the Associated Press.

Developed in the 2000s, the weapon was the USAF’S answer to Iran building its nuclear sites underground.

The USAF posted images of the bombs on the Facebook page for Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The base is home to a fleet of B-2 stealth bombers, the only aircraft that can deploy the bomb. In a caption, the base said it had received two of the bombs to “test their performance”. The pictures show stencilling that listed their weight as 12,300kg.

It also described the bomb as carrying a mix of AFX-757 – a standard explosive – and PBXN-114, a new explosive compound, according to Rahul Udoshi, at Janes, an open-source intelligence firm.

He said the USAF likely took the pictures down as they revealed too much data about the bombs. “Immediate removal from the internet without comment [or] justification means there is a potential lapse,” he added.

Yesterday it was reported that satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs PBC showed Tehran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site in central Iran. Excavation mounds suggest the facility could be up to 100m underground. In previously describing the bomb’s capabilities, the USAF has said it could penetrate 60m of ground and cement before detonating.