Super-bomba anti-bunker GBU-72B Advanced 5K Penetrator
The GBU-72 deep penetration ammunition, weighing 2,300 kg, is known as a “bunker bomb” and only explodes when it hits the target.
The United States military announced this Tuesday that it had struck missile positions along the coast of Iran, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with some of the conventional pumps most powerful in your arsenal.
According to US military sources, the attack targeted underground installations that housed anti-ship cruise missiles Iranians, considered a threat to international navigation in the strait.
According to an American military officer, 2,300 kilograms of deep penetration bombs were used in the attack, ammunition officially designated as GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator.
This type of pump is commonly known as “anti-bunker bomb” or “bunker bomb” and is used against reinforced installations or underground bunkers.
The air attack occurred after Iran, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, in retaliation for the war waged against the country by the United States and Israel.
What is the GBU-72?
The GBU-72 is an evolution “substantially more lethal” from a previous weapon, the GBU-28, and was tested by the US military for the first time in 2021.
It is a penetration guided bombcapable of crossing concrete or deep bunkers, which detonates when it hits the targetalready underground, which, according to the military, minimizes damage to the surface and maximizes destruction of the target in depth.
According to the United States Air Force, it was designed to overcome fortified barriers and hit deeply buried targetsand can be transported and launched by both fighter planes and bombers.
The US Air Force does not disclose the penetration ability of the GBU-28 and GBU-72 bombs. However, the original design of the GBU-28 allegedly provided for the ability to penetrate more than 45 meters of earth and at least 4.5 meters of reinforced concrete, which indicates that the GBU-72 should have superior performance.
In addition to being more lethal, the bomb is also more accurate by using a guidance system known as Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), which essentially converts unguided bombs into all-weather precision guided munitions via a GPS receiver.
The use of this system, instead of the GBU-28’s laser guidance, allows air raids in all weather conditions. Clouds, smoke and other elements that reduce visibility may impede the use of laser-guided weapons.
“It was created to replace the GBU-28which is another powerful penetrator, but this one is GPS-guided instead of laser-guided, so rain, shine or snow, it will hit its target,” explained Sgt. Zachary Schaefferfrom the 57th Ammunition Squadron, in a release released by the US Air Force.
The estimated cost of the GBU-72 is 288 thousand dollars per unit.
GBU-57: even more powerful
The GBU-72 is less powerful than the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), weighing 13,600 kilograms, launched by the United States against Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.
The GBU-57 measures 6 meters and weighs 13.6 tons. AND so heavy that the stealth bomber B-2 Spirit is the only aircraft capable of transporting and using. This bomb uses the force of its own weight, accelerated by the launch at high altitude.
It is believed that the United States has only one reduced number of these bombs. Until September 2011, the manufacturer Boeing had delivered only 20. It is known, however, that the US military has placed new orders in the meantime.
The initial project predicted that the GBU-57 would be capable of penetrating up to 18 meters to reach the target. In 2007, the Air Force stated that this capability had been expanded to up to 60 meters.
The attacks in Iran were the first use of this bomb in combat.
