Bunker-Busting Bombs Unleashed: Iran’s Secret Missile Sites Targeted

U.S. forces debuted a new bunker-busting bomb against Iran’s underground coastal missile network — but whether the threat to international shipping is truly eliminated remains an open and critical question.

Story Snapshot

The U.S. military used the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator in combat for the first time, striking hardened Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed U.S. forces have struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure since operations began.
The targeted underground sites stored Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles that posed a direct threat to international shipping through the strait.
Satellite imagery reportedly shows Iranian engineering crews already clearing debris and working to restore the struck facilities, raising questions about lasting damage.

New Weapon, New Mission Near the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Central Command confirmed that American forces employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions against hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. [4] The weapon used — the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator — made its combat debut in these strikes. [2] The munition is specifically designed to punch through reinforced concrete and rock barriers before detonating, making it the right tool for targeting underground storage facilities that conventional bombs cannot reach.

Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine described the mission at a Pentagon briefing, confirming that U.S. forces dropped 5,000-pound penetrator weapons into underground storage facilities holding coastal defense cruise missiles and other support equipment. [2] Central Command stated plainly that the Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles stored in those sites posed a direct risk to international shipping passing through the strait. [4] Disrupting that threat was the stated objective — and the new weapon gave the military a tool it had previously lacked against such deeply buried targets.

Scale of the Campaign Against Iran

The Strait of Hormuz strikes were part of a dramatically larger campaign. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. forces have struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure since operations began. [2] That scale reflects a sustained, deliberate effort to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten American interests, allies, and global commerce. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and its coastal missile network have long been identified as primary tools Iran uses to intimidate and threaten shipping in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

At least six Iranian nuclear sites were also struck in recent U.S. and Israeli operations, with most confirmed or suspected targets tied to weapons-related work. [1] The breadth of the targeting list signals that the Trump administration is treating Iran’s military infrastructure — from nuclear facilities to conventional missile arsenals — as interconnected threats requiring simultaneous pressure rather than a piecemeal approach.

Legitimate Questions About Lasting Damage

Despite the confirmed strikes, important questions remain unanswered. Pentagon officials did not provide battle damage assessments following the underground missile storage strikes, leaving the actual extent of destruction unverified. [2] That gap matters, because satellite intelligence reportedly shows Iranian engineering teams using bulldozers to clear debris at struck sites, with estimates suggesting facilities could resume limited operations after clearing efforts. [5] Iran’s underground “missile cities” — vast tunnel networks built inside mountains — were specifically engineered to survive heavy bombardment.

History offers a cautionary note. Iran’s tunnel-based missile infrastructure has demonstrated resilience against previous strikes, with reinforced tunnels, multiple exits, and backup systems allowing partial recovery. [5] Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile also remains buried in separate deep underground nuclear sites, untouched by the missile-focused strikes. [6] None of this diminishes what U.S. forces accomplished — neutralizing a coastal anti-ship missile network threatening global commerce is a genuine strategic win. But Americans deserve honest assessments of what was destroyed versus what Iran retains, rather than triumphalist headlines that outrun the verified facts on the ground.