The US Air Force (USAF) has employed a 5,000-pound bunker buster, seemingly for the first time in its air campaign against Iran.
It is the first time US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the use of these air-to-ground “deep penetration” munitions against what it described as “hardened” Iranian missile sites along the coastline of the Strait of Hormuz.
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CENTCOM specified that these sites utilised anti-ship cruise missiles, which could pose a risk to international maritime shipping in the contested space.
Bunker busters
Citing US military officials, CNN reporter Haley Britzkey said that the USAF employed the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator.
The GBU-72 was developed to overcome hardened deeply buried target challenges and designed for both fighter and bomber aircraft.
The weapon design and its projected effectiveness were developed using advanced modeling and simulation techniques before the first warhead was forged, according to a USAF release from October 2021, when the munition was released by an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet over Eglin Air Force Base during its test phase.
Strategy by denial
Lacking the conventional means to defend against the overwhelming US and Israeli air campaign, the Islamic Republic is resorting to asymmetric activity through its cheap Shahed drone attacks in tandem with its efforts to deny global trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
By controlling the Strait, a vital trade artery with a distance of 29 nautical miles at its narrowest point, Iran creates limited space for tankers and warships, making their movements in the bottleneck predictable. This in turn allows fast employment of Iran’s anti-ship capabilities, reducing US Navy response time to as little as 30 to 40 seconds according to The New York Times.
While focusing on the ostensible success of the US air campaign in devastating Iran’s conventional military capabilities on 13 March, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed Iranian efforts in the Strait of Hormuz as an act of “sheer desperation” that US forces are “dealing with”.
This is a telling statement: the air campaign is only successful insofar as it deprives Iran of its conventional military resources and leadership. However, it fails at the strategic level as the US Navy becomes bogged down in the Strait, forcing the US administration to demand help from unwilling allies, which only protracts the war well beyond the intended swift victory comparable to the Venezuela operation in January 2026.
