The dollar cost of dropping MOPs on Iran
The bombing of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility on 22 June 2025 was strategically significant but not completely destructive. The U.S. deployed as many as 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) “bunker buster” bombs—each weighing 30,000 pounds—via B-2 stealth bombers. The key target was Fordow’s deeply buried uranium enrichment halls beneath the Zagros Mountains.
Satellite imagery and expert analysis suggest the strikes caused serious structural damage to access tunnels and ventilation shafts, which are critical to the facility’s operation. However, experts remain skeptical that even these powerful bombs fully destroyed the centrifuge halls. Some reports indicate flattened ridgelines and rock scarring, but not total obliteration. Iran had likely evacuated personnel and moved enriched uranium before the strike.
Iran's Fordo nuclear site looks damaged, but not destroyed - The New York Times
The bombing likely set back Iran’s nuclear program by months to a year, but did not eliminate it. This begs the question of whether the bombing mission was worth the cost.
While exact figures for the financial cost of the whole operation haven’t been disclosed, we can piece together a rough estimate based on available data:
Each MOP bomb is estimated to cost around $3.5 million to $5 million.
20 MOPs would therefore total $70 million to $100 million just in munitions.
The bombs were delivered by B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, which cost $2.1 billion each to build and roughly $150,000 per flight hour to operate.
The mission, dubbed “Midnight Hammer,” involved six to seven B-2s, 30 Tomahawk missiles, and over 125 aircraft, including F-22s and F-35s.
Factoring in aircraft operations, logistics, and support, the total cost of the mission likely exceeded several hundred million dollars, though no official figure has been released.
NOTE: This post was prepared with the assistance of Microsoft’s Copilot, which is a sophisticated artificial intelligence bot designed to help with tasks such as writing, coding, researching, and organizing.
