Here come the big bombs as US escalates strikes on Iran's huge military arsenal

"Our stockpiles of antiaircraft and violative weapons let america to prolong this run arsenic agelong arsenic we request to," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said astatine U.S. Central Command office connected Thursday.

From a tactical perspective, the standard of the airstrikes unleashed successful Operation Epic Fury indicates that the U.S. astir waited excessively long. Starting the run to instrumentality retired Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones required strikes connected astir 2,000 aimpoints successful conscionable the archetypal fewer days. That’s 1 munition per aimpoint, and determination could beryllium thousands much to go.

It was present oregon never. Iran planned to stockpile missiles and drones and physique a fistful of atomic weapons that nary subject unit could reach. "Iranian negotiators said to america directly, with nary shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% and they’re alert that that could marque 11 atomic bombs," U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday. 

The terrifying standard of Iran’s people acceptable went unnoticed by astir of the satellite until past Saturday.

Imagine however hard this occupation would person been successful a fewer years — particularly with Russia and China helping Iran restock.

"This cognition needed to hap due to the fact that Iran, successful astir a twelvemonth oregon a twelvemonth and a half, would transverse the enactment of immunity, meaning they would person truthful galore short-range missiles, truthful galore drones that nary 1 could bash thing astir it due to the fact that they could clasp the full satellite hostage," Rubio said connected Capitol Hill connected Monday. "Look astatine the harm they’re doing now. And this is simply a weakened Iran … ideate a twelvemonth from now," helium added.

With Iran’s bid and power degraded and aerial defenses flattened, the confederate aerial ingress approaches to the state are wide open. "And now, with implicit power of the skies, we volition beryllium utilizing 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS--and laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we person a astir unlimited stockpile," Hegseth said astatine the Pentagon connected Wednesday.

Here travel the large bombs to instrumentality connected hundreds of targets. Those targets see factories, weapons retention sites and each IRGC installation U.S. forces tin find. And it’s each happening portion a 2,000-mile arc of aerial defence continues.

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The U.S. is not moving retired of bombs for Operation Epic Fury. Here are 7 systems seeing dense action:

Joint Direct Attack Munition: JDAMs usage GPS outer guidance to deed precise coordinates. The combat-proven JDAM household of munitions is really a kit. You instrumentality a Mk 82 500-pound free-fall gravity bomb, a Mk 83 1,000-pound weaponry assemblage oregon a Mk 84 2,000-pound weaponry body, past connect a precision seeker and a process kit with steering fins conscionable earlier missions. Military munitions specialists — sometimes called AMMO troops — physique the bombs earlier loading them onto the aircraft. In the Navy, for example, you tin spot ordnance loaders connected an craft bearer platform by their reddish jerseys. In 2003, U.S. combatant and bomber crews dropped 5,086 of the 2,000-pound GBU-31 JDAMs successful Operation Iraqi Freedom. So yes, planners knew to banal up. A caller helping kit doubled the scope for the JDAM Extended Range variant. JDAMs tin onslaught "off-axis," meaning down oregon to the broadside of the combatant oregon bomber.

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb: Combining precision with almighty explosives, the Small Diameter Bomb weighs 250 pounds and has a singular 40-nautical-mile scope erstwhile launched, on with the quality to onslaught moving vehicles. The weaponry assemblage is advanced, with a much almighty but compact explosive that limits collateral damage. Aircrews tin alteration coordinates successful formation for this GPS-guided munition. F-22 Raptors tin driblet SDBs portion flying supersonic.

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Patriot and THAAD: U.S. forces are starring the defence against rocket and drone threats. Patriot remains the golden modular for terminal-phase intercepts, and Hegseth noted inventories were successful bully shape. THAAD — Terminal High Altitude Area Defense — is besides wide used.

In this U.S. Navy handout, the USS Thomas Hudner fires a Tomahawk onshore onslaught rocket successful enactment of Operation Epic Fury connected March 1, 2026, astatine sea. (U.S. Navy/via Getty Images)

Air-to-air missiles: For drones, determination are galore options, starting with combatant craft equipped with AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and AIM-9 Sidewinders. Drones tin beryllium tricky to observe connected radar, but caller acquisition successful Ukraine means the U.S. has caller identifying characteristics to enactment with. Once successful range, the slow, hot, whirring pusher motor of Iran’s Shahed drones is not hard to target. However, Hegseth noted counter-UAS systems person been pushed forward. You knew American exertion was the instauration of Ukraine’s superb aerial defenses, right?  

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VAMPIRE and Coyote: The VAMPIRE counter-drone system’s sanction says it all: Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment. That means it tin spell connected astir immoderate motortruck and occurrence antithetic missiles. The Navy rushed it to Ukraine successful 2023, and since then, "VAMPIRE users person successfully changeable down hundreds of force drones," according to shaper L3Harris. Other examples see Coyote, a tiny drone that tin motorboat from a sonobuoy to destruct hostile drones oregon loiter to disable them with physics jamming successful its "non-kinetic" variant. Both person been tested against drone swarms.

To beryllium sure, immoderate Standard Missile-3 Block 1A and Block 2B variants person been heavy taxed. U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers motorboat SM-3s for exo-atmospheric, midcourse hit-to-kill shots against Iranian ballistic missiles. 

On Feb. 4, the Pentagon anticipated the request and announced Tomahawk accumulation would beryllium boosted to 1,000 per year, AMRAAMs to astatine slightest 1,900, and SM-6 missiles to much than 500 annually, with SM-3 accumulation accelerating to 2 to 4 times its classified yearly rate. For evident reasons, afloat munitions inventories are not nationalist information.

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"Your associated unit is steady, frosty, calm and focused," Caine said.

And they person the weapons to transportation retired their missions.

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