News about Fordow • Iran

Defense officials have said the MOP is capable of penetrating up to 200 feet. But it is probably more capable now after further development over the past two decades, said Trevor Ball, a former Army explosive ordnance disposal technician.

Fordow was originally built as a military facility for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is located 30km (18.5 miles) northeast of the city of Qom in northwestern Iran and is reportedly hundreds of metres inside a mountain.

The U.S. Air Force began designing the GBU-57/B, also called a bunker buster, in 2004 specifically to attack nuclear facilities deep beneath mountains. Other American bunker busters, like the BLU-109 and the GBU-28, aren't able to penetrate the thick layers of soil, rock and concrete protecting Fordo.