Satellite images reveal the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites
When United Bombed State Iran in Early local time on Sundaytargeted three facilities at the heart of the country’s nuclear ambitions. The Fordau Uranium Enrichment Plant, Natantz Nuclear Facility, and Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center. The newly released satellite image shows the impact of attacks that can be seen at least on the ground.
The brunt of the bombing focused on Fordow, where the US military dropped a massive 12 GBU-57 weapon intruders as part of the “Midnight Hammer” operation. These 30,000 pound “bunkerbuster” bombs are designed to penetrate as deeply as 200 feet into the Earth before they explode. The Fordow Complex is approximately 260 feet underground.
That gap explains part of the uncertainty about how much damage the Fordow site has maintained. President Donald Trump shared a post about his true social platform following the attack that declared “Fold is gone,” and later said in a television speech that “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility has been completely and completely wiped out.” However, his own army was a little cautious about the outcome at the Sunday morning briefing. “It’s too early to comment on anything I might or may not be there,” said Chairman General Dan Kane.
Satellite images can essentially tell you so much about structures well below the surface of the Earth. However, before and after the images, the most commonly available information about the impact of the bombing.
“What we’re looking at is six craters, three craters, with 12 large ordinance intruders dropped,” says Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Non-Proliferation Program at the Middlebury International Institute of Monterey. “The idea is that you’re digging into the same place over and over again.”
Specific locations of these craters are also important, says Joseph Rogers, deputy director and fellow fellow for the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Nuclear Issues. The front door tunnel to the Fordow Complex appears to be untargeted, but the US bomb has fallen on a likely ventilation shaft based on satellite images of the site’s early structure.
“The reason we want to target ventilation shafts is because it’s a more direct route to the core components of the underground facility,” says Rogers.
That direct route is especially important given how deeply underground depths are built. The US military relies on “basically computer models” of facilities, Lewis says. Lewis says, “How much pressure can you put before everything inside is severely damaged and the facility is collapsed?” By bombarding specific target areas with multiple ammunition, the US did not need to infringe the full penetration of 260 feet and cause great damage.
“They probably aren’t trying to get to the facility. They’re probably just trying to get close enough to it and crush it with a shock wave,” Lewis says. “If you send a shock wave of sufficient size through the facility, it will kill people, destroy things, and undermine their integrity.”