US shares test footage showing how bunker-busters work to prove damage in Iran strike

In a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the planning and execution of the US strikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Playing videos of how the bombing took place at the nuclear sites, they explained how the bombers attacked.

Unlike other normal bombs, the damage done by a bunker-buster bomb cannot be seen on the surface level. They are designed to deeply bury and then function, Gen Caine said.

"A bomb has three effects that cause damage: blast, fragmentation and overpressure. In this case, the primary kill mechanisms in the mission space were a mix of overpressure and blast," he added.

Hegseth blamed the media for questioning the success of the strike. "Searching for scandals, you miss historic moments like recruiting at the Pentagon, historic levels in the Army, the Air Force and the Navy," he said.

Gen. Caine spoke about the two officers at the Defence Threat Reduction Agency who studied the subterranean nuclear plant at Fordow for 15 years to plan the attack.

He also spoke about the personnel who developed the 30,000-pound bombs that the B-2's dropped, the crew who flew the 37-hour mission, and the troops who defended an American base from Iranian retaliation.

He described how all six bombs "went exactly where they were intended to go" and added that "unlike a normal surface bomb, you won't see an impact crater".

On each side, he said, the first bomb opened the shaft, and the four bombs after it entered "at greater than 1,000 feet per second". The final and sixth bomb would act like a "flex weapon" in case any of the bombs preceding it had an issue, he said.

In a surprise move, the US joined the war on Saturday, launching B2 bombers that struck three key nuclear bases in Iran. The US named this offensive Operation Midnight Hammer.

Iran responded by striking the US base in Qatar after a warning that enabled the US to ensure zero casualties and minimal damage.

Trump decided not to respond, and hours later, announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.