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Israel continues its efforts to neutralize Iran’s nuclear capabilities, with the Fordow nuclear facility near Tehran remaining heavily fortified and intact in the face of these attacks.
It is widely believed by military experts that the only effective weapon to destroy the Fordow site is a two-ton precision bunker buster exclusively developed and possessed by the United States. The urgency stems from concerns that Fordow could potentially produce a nuclear warhead within just two to three days.
Jonathan Ruhe, the Director of Foreign Policy for JINSA, shared insights with Fox News Digital regarding bunker busters and their strategic use by either Israel or the United States to eliminate the nuclear threat posed by the Fordow facility.
Given that Israel is “very tactically inventive” and “very good at maximizing the capabilities they do have,” Ruhe says that Israel could achieve its goals at Fordow without the MOP.
Not only did Ruhe offer the unlikely but not impossible scenario where Israel might “storm the site in a commando raid,” but he said that Israel could use F-15s, escorted by F-35s, to deliver multiple 5,000-pound bunker busters over Fordow, utilizing the same burrowing tactic the U.S. would likely employ.
FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2015, file photo, a U.S. Air Force B2 Spirit stealth bomber performs a flyover at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Mark Almond, File)
Such a strike, he admitted, would “achieve a more limited definition of success” than the MOP could.
Differing expectations for Fordow
The U.S. and Israel are likely to have different goals in targeting Fordow, Ruhe said. “Americans tend to think of obliterating targets,” Ruhe said, whereas Israel would “probably be fine with saying they knocked back the operations there by a year or so.”
Ruhe estimates that the bunker busters may not completely destroy the facility, but that it may be considered a success if it were to knock out the power source to Iranian centrifuges, or making “the air too polluted” for centrifuges to operate.
FORDO, IRAN — JUN. 14, 2025; Maxar satellite imagery overview of the Fordo enrichment facility located approximately 60 miles southwest of Tehran. No visible damage is observed. (Maxar Technologies via Getty)
Israel has “successfully knocked out the other parts of Iran’s fuel cycle” in Natanz and Isfahan, Ruhe said. “If you want to prevent a nuclear Iran, Fordow is a big part of that,” Ruhe said. “But it’s only just a part of what still needs to be done and thought about.”
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this article.
