more bunker-busting – Adm. Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, told lawmakers he needs more electronic warfare, advanced counter-UAS capabilities and new munitions for deeply buried targets, saying adversaries are increasingly moving critical sites underground. His comments ca
When Adm. Brad Cooper walked into a US House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, he brought a message that sounded less like a wish and more like a battlefield adjustment. The problem, he said, is that the ground itself has become part of the defenses.
The top US commander overseeing forces in the Middle East said he needs more weapons and capabilities to strike hardened targets buried deep underground. He linked that need to a shift in how adversaries protect their most valuable assets, and he put it bluntly: “Everybody is going underground.”
Cooper told lawmakers that his wishlist includes “more electronic warfare” and that “keep counter-UAS [Uncrewed Aerial Systems] on the leading edge” because “tactics are changing very quickly.” But he reserved special emphasis for what he called “hard and deeply buried targets. ” specifically “the weapons and other capabilities for finding and striking underground sites.”.
Iran’s strategy is central to why Cooper’s procurement pitch matters. The source material says Iran has buried many of its most prized military assets, including nuclear sites, underground to protect them from missile strikes.
Last year, the US demonstrated how far it was willing to go to reach those facilities. The US launched Operation Midnight Hammer, a strike operation against three Iranian nuclear facilities. US forces conducted three massive attacks on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. During those strikes, American bombers dropped the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-buster bomb for the first time in combat.
A total of fourteen GBU-57s were released during the strikes on Iranian facilities. The bomb’s weight and handling requirements underscore how limited and consequential its use is: each munition weighs roughly 30. 000 pounds. and it can only be carried by the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit bomber. The B-2 can carry two internally; the B-2’s successor, the B-21 Raider, is expected to carry only one.
Designed to penetrate deep into the ground, the GBU-57 is meant to get below defenses before it detonates. The source material says the bomb is designed to penetrate deep into the ground. up to 200 feet. before exploding—though the depth depends on the strength of the material. such as reinforced concrete. that it is hitting.
The US also has smaller bunker busters available, but the source material says they don’t dig as deep or carry as large an explosive as the GBU-57.
For Cooper, the stakes are not only about what was used last year, but what comes next. After Operation Midnight Hammer, the Air Force began work on a successor to the GBU-57. It awarded a contract to New Mexico-based research and engineering firm Applied Research Associates to build a prototype “air-to-ground Next Generation Penetrator weapon system.” The source material says Boeing. which made the GBU-57. will design and develop the new bomb’s tail kit.
The contract amount and specifications were not provided in the source material. but the Air Force has requested that the Next Generation Penetrator (NGP) not exceed 22. 000 pounds. deliver blast and fragmentation effects. and be highly accurate with a navigation system capable of operating in GPS-denied environments. The eventual successor to the GBU-57 is described as lighter and needing to operate in GPS-denied environments.
During the same hearing, Cooper also defended Operation Epic Fury, the US military operation against Iran. He pointed to successes in degrading Iran’s missile, drone, and naval capabilities, as well as its defense industrial base.
House members pressed him on the military objectives of the operation and on what followed afterward, including the fragile ceasefire and closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has been ongoing for over a month now.
The discussion of underground defenses lands in a wider atmosphere of tension. Earlier this week. President Donald Trump said that he had been “an hour away” from ordering new strikes on Iran but stopped because of progress in negotiations. On Wednesday, Tehran threatened to ignite a conflict “beyond the region” if the US and Israel decide to resume attacks.
Taken together, the facts from the hearing and the prior strike campaign make one practical problem impossible to ignore: when key sites move underground, the effectiveness of any strike depends not just on deciding to hit, but on having the right way to find and reach what lies beneath.
Brad Cooper US Central Command Middle East operations bunker buster bombs GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Operation Midnight Hammer Fordow Natanz Isfahan B-2 Spirit bomber B-21 Raider Next Generation Penetrator GPS-denied environments counter-UAS electronic warfare Operation Epic Fury Strait of Hormuz Iran nuclear facilities