Video: A Nuclear Bunker Buster Bomb Against Iran Would Initiate World War III, On the Drawing Board of the Pentagon?

By Union of Concerned Scientists and Prof Michel Chossudovsky

[This article was first published by Global Research. You may read it here.]

Introduction

In recent developments, President Donald Trump is threatening Iran.

What would be the consequence of the use of a tactical nuclear weapon (bunker buster bomb) in the conventional war theater against the Islamic Republic of Iran?

Tactical nuclear weapons otherwise categorized as so-called a mini-nukes are said to be “harmless to the surrounding civilian population because the explosion is underground.” This is a fallacy.

The video below produced in 2006 by the Union of Concerned Scientists in collaboration with the Pentagon reveals the consequence of the use of a Nuclear Earth Penetration Bomb in an attack on Iran.

This is an important video production, carefully documented by the UCS.

I should mention that the option to use bunker buster bombs against Iran is currently on the drawing board of the Pentagon, despite the fact that there is no evidence that Iran has stockpiled weapons of mass destruction in so-called bunkers, as conveyed in the video.

We should underscore that on February 13, 2025:

President Trump signaled his interest in restarting arms control negotiations with Russia and China. “There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons. We already have so many,” Trump said. “You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.” He continued, “We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive.” (The Bulletin, February 2025)

His stance with regard to using nukes against Iran is somewhat different. He has not addressed the closure of the five air bases which have stockpiles of B61-11 and 12 tactical nuclear weapons, which are intent upon targeting Iran.

Implied in the video-montage below is that Iran constitutes a WMD threat, when in fact there is no evidence to that effect.

The Nuclear Earth Penetrating Bomb (NEPB) should be distinguished from the so-called tactical nuclear weapons (mini-nukes) which are low-yield.

The simulation in the Flash Animation pertains to a one megaton bunker buster thermonuclear bomb with an explosive capacity of 60 times a Hiroshima bomb. Its use would result in millions of deaths and radioactive fallout extending eastwards into Pakistan and India.

The earth penetrating technology is similar. The explosive capacity of the B61-11 and 12 series which are deployed in Western Europe have an explosive capacity from one third to 12 times a Hiroshima bomb.

“the B61-11 has several “available yields”, ranging from “low yields” of less than one kiloton, to mid-range and up to the 1000 kiloton bomb. In all cases, the radioactive fallout is devastating. Moreover, the B61 series of thermonuclear weapons includes several models with distinct specifications: the B61-11, the B61-3, B61- 4, B61-7 and B61-10. Each of these bombs has several “available yields”.

What is contemplated for theater use [against Iran] is the “low yield” 10 kt bomb, two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb.”

In the simulation based on a model of the Pentagon pertaining to the RNEP (image below),

“more than three million would be killed and more than 35 million people would be exposed by cancer causing radiation.”

B61-11 and 12 Low-Yield Bunker Buster Bombs

The UCS (based on the Pentagon Model) also examined the likely impacts of the use of the low-yield B61-11 and 12 bombs (which is deployed in the UK, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands).

The B61-11 and 12 series are contemplated for use in the conventional war theater. According to the Simulation of a B61-11 attack on Iran:

“this would result in radioactive contamination over a large part of the Middle East – Central Asian region, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, including US troops stationed in Iraq.” (UCS)

It should be noted that the 1.3 trillion dollars nuclear weapons program is slated to increase to 2 trillion by 2030 allegedly as a means to safeguarding peace and national security at taxpayers expense.

Does a two trillion dollars ($2000 billion) budget allocated to the development of nuclear weapons not suggest that America is intent upon using nuclear weapons?

[Image: B61-12]

How many schools and hospitals could you finance with 2 trillion dollars?

A nuclear attack against Iran is currently on the drawing board of the Pentagon.

We are at a dangerous crossroads in our history.

The use of the low-yield B61-11 and 12 so-called mini-nukes (tactical nuclear weapons) which are CATEGORIZED AS CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS WOULD INEVITABLY precipitate WWIII.

This is an important video and it’s real.

AND WE MUST CONFRONT OUR GOVERNMENTS AND PREVENT IT FROM OCCURRING.

—Michel Chossudovsky, November 2, 2024, updated April 2, 2025

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Video: The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator to be Used Against Iran

Text and Analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

The simulation in the Flash Animation pertains to a one megaton bunker buster thermonuclear bomb with an explosive capacity of 60 times a Hiroshima bomb.

Military documents distinguish between the NEP as in the case of the simulation, and the “mini-nuke” which are nuclear weapons with a yield of less than 10 kilotons (two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb). The NEP can have a yield of up to a 1000 kilotons, or 60 times a Hiroshima bomb.

In the showdown with Tehran over its alleged nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon is contemplating the launching of punitive bombings using “mini-nukes” or tactical thermonuclear weapons. While the “guidelines” do not exclude other (more deadly) categories of nukes in the US and/or Israeli nuclear arsenal, as envisaged in the simulation, Pentagon “scenarios” in the Middle East tend to favor the use of tactical nuclear weapons including the B61-11 bunker buster bomb with a yield of 10 kt.

This distinction between mini-nukes and larger NEPs is in many regard misleading. In practice there is no dividing line.

We are broadly dealing with the same type of weaponry: the B61-11 has several “available yields”, ranging from “low yields” of less than one kiloton, to mid-range and up to the 1000 kiloton bomb. In all cases, the radioactive fallout is devastating. Moreover, the B61 series of thermonuclear weapons includes several models with distinct specifications: the B61-11, the B61-3, B61- 4, B61-7 and B61-10. Each of these bombs has several “available yields”.

What is contemplated for theater use is the “low yield” 10 kt bomb, two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb. The impacts in terms of deaths and radioactive fallout would be less dramatic than that contemplated in the simulation. It would nonetheless result in the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women and children

“The earth-penetrating capability of the B61-11 is fairly limited. … Tests show it penetrates only 20 feet or so into dry earth when dropped from an altitude of 40,000 feet. … Any attempt to use it in an urban environment would result in massive civilian casualties. Even at the low end of its 0.3-300 kiloton yield range, the nuclear blast will simply blow out a huge crater of radioactive material, creating a lethal gamma-radiation field over a large area “ (Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons by Robert W. Nelson,Federation of American Scientists, 2001 ).

According to GlobalSecurity.org , the use of the B61-11 against North Korea would result in extensive radioactive fallout over nearby countries, thereby triggering a nuclear holocaust.

“… In tests the bomb penetrates only 20 feet into dry earth,… But even this shallow penetration before detonation allows a much higher proportion of the explosion to be transferred into ground shock relative to a surface burst. It is not able to counter targets deeply buried under granite rock. Moreover, it has a high yield, in the hundreds of kilotons. If used in North Korea, the radioactive fallout could drift over nearby countries such as Japan” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b61.htm )

If it were to be launched against Iran, it would result in radioactive contamination over a large part of the Middle East – Central Asian region, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, including US troops stationed in Iraq:

“The use of any nuclear weapon capable of destroying a buried target that is otherwise immune to conventional attack will necessarily produce enormous numbers of civilian casualties. No earth-burrowing missile can penetrate deep enough into the earth to contain an explosion with a nuclear yield [of a low yield B61-11] even as small as 1 percent of the 15 kiloton Hiroshima weapon. The explosion simply blows out a massive crater of radioactive dirt, which rains down on the local region with an especially intense and deadly fallout.” (Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons, by Robert W. Nelson, op cit)

At present, the B61-11 is slated for use in war theaters together with conventional weapons. (Congressional Report“ Bunker Busters”: Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues, Congressional Research Service March 2005). (Other versions of the B61, namely mod 3, 4, 7 and 10, which are part of the US arsenal, involve nuclear bunker buster bombs with a lower yield to that of B61-11).

For further details, see The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War.

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“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War”

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research!

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition: $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute