President Donald Trump ordered U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian military sites, infrastructure, and leadership in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, injuring his son Mojtaba Khamenei, and destroying over 5,500 targets, including ballistic missile facilities, all four Soleimani-class warships, and Bank Sepah.
The campaign, named Operation Epic Fury, lasted 11-12 days with weapons such as 21,715-lb GBU-43 MOAB, 30,000-lb GBU-57 MOP, and BLU-109 2,000-lb JDAM bombs from B-1B Lancers, after which Trump declared U.S. victory. Iran retaliated with missile attacks, imposed an internet blackout, and issued threats while suffering significant naval and air losses.
The blast hit on day 12 of Operation Roaring Lion, the U.S.-Israeli military operation launched February 28 after strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Online speculation points that the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber hit the Iranian Fordow nuclear facility with a rare 30000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, though neither the Pentagon nor Israel has confirmed details. Iranian media noted explosions in Qom, as the war escalates with strikes on missile factories, nuclear sites, banking data centre and command centres.
The GBU-57 series Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the initials stand for Guided Bomb Unit and Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is a 30,000-pound class, 20.5-foot-long precision-guided munition “bunker buster” bomb developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), considered novel, demonstrated, or fielded Guidance, Navigation & Control technologies with viability for integration into a warhead guidance system that can achieve repeatable, high-accuracy performance in GPS-aided, degraded, and/or denied environments to target deeply buried infrastructure.
A video out of Royal Air Force base Fairford in England shows an American B-1 B getting loaded with BLU-109 2000-pound bunker buster warheads. The move from cruise missiles to joint direct attack munitions, at least for some targets, is a sign that air supremacy over Iran is becoming more assured, at least in some areas.
© 2026, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
