China, Iran, and North Korea - opponents of the United States - fear an air invasion and are building deep bunkers. However, the Pentagon already has powerful bombs that can hit such facilities, reports The Telegraph.
New American bombs
The article says that earlier photographer Ian Recchio took photos of a Boeing B-1 bomber of the US Air Force refueling from a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Under the swing-wing B-1’s forward fuselage was a large bomb.
"Aviation expert David Cenciotti was one of the first people to see Recchio’s photos. At first, Cenciotti thought the bomb might be a GBU-31, an unremarkable 2,000-pound satellite-guided bomb. But then he looked closer,” the media writes.
It was not a GBU-31, but a completely new munition called GBU-72, which is designed to penetrate deep into the ground and destroy bunkers.
Peculiarities of the bomb
The article states that GBU-72 is special. Thanks to a high-tech detonator and a heavy-duty shell, this satellite-guided anti-bunker bomb has a high penetration rate and a relatively small size.
"In other words, it combines the best qualities of the US Air Force’s existing bunker-busters: the 4,000-pound GBU-28 and the 27,000-pound GBU-57,” the Telegraph writes.
The GBU-28 is small and light enough to be carried by US Air Force Boeing F-15E fighters, but it penetrates less than 200 feet (61 meters) into hard ground. The GBU-57 is supposed to penetrate to a depth of more than 200 feet, but it is so large and heavy that only two types of USAF military aircraft can carry it: the current B-2 stealth bomber and the future B-21 stealth bomber.
These bombs will be useful in case of war
The article claims that hundreds of American military aircraft can carry GBU-72. In a major war, these aircraft could attack shallowly buried targets, while a smaller group of bombers carrying GBU-57s would attack deeply buried targets.
The targets could include underground bunkers dug in Iran to house missile launchers, fighter squadrons, and critical parts of its growing nuclear program.
North Korea has also buried parts of its nuclear complex and also maintains large underground bases for artillery, missiles, fighter jets, and even helicopters, often dug into the mountains.
And China's underground bases house headquarters, munitions depots, nuclear warheads, supply depots, and air, land, and sea forces. China has thousands of underground facilities and builds new ones every year.
New US bomber
The B-21 Raider was developed by Northrop Grumman to replace the outdated B-1 and B-2 models. This strategic bomber has low visibility, high technological equipment, and can carry both nuclear and conventional weapons.
The B-21 is designed to carry out long-term strategic missions and penetrate deeply defended enemy territories.
This year, Washington conducted a new stage of flight tests of the new sixth-generation B-21 Raider strategic bomber.
