The First 30,000-Pound Bomb at Fordow Wasn't Aimed at the Plant — It Was Aimed at a Concrete Cap

At about 2:10 a.m. Iran time on June 22, 2025, the lead B-2 dropped two 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow, the first combat use of the weapon. The way in was the two ventilation shafts on either side of the main exhaust shaft. By the account of Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, six bombs were assigned to each shaft, and the first one's job was to remove the concrete cap Iran had tried to put over it days before. Bombs two through five were tasked to go down the open shaft; the sixth was a spare. In 25 minutes, Iran's three nuclear sites were struck. What was left under the mountain is still disputed. From the photographs of 2009 to the twelve bombs that night, Al Udeid's 120 seconds two days later and the grading that still divides the records, the whole of Operation Midnight Hammer is in the full film (about 18 minutes): [link to the full film — add after upload] Sources · U.S. Department of Defense — Secretary Hegseth and Gen. Caine press briefings, June 22 and June 26, 2025 (transcripts) · Joint Staff — Fordow briefing board (DVIDS 9133441) · U.S. Air Force — Massive Ordnance Penetrator fact sheet · GBU-57 test video (December 2020) · Director, Operational Test and Evaluation — FY2014 annual report (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) · Congressional Research Service — Insight IN12571 The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. The 3D scenes are a directed reconstruction built from the records with carved models, not footage. The narration is a synthetic voice. #shorts #OperationMidnightHammer #B2Spirit #Fordow #BunkerBuster #GBU57 #USAirForce #Iran #SANDTABUL— SANDTABUL · Warfare, set out on the sand table. Battles, operations and the machines of war, re-staged in carved 3D and placed in the world that shaped them.