US deploys 'bunker busters' in warning to Iran – media

America’s A-10 Warthog squadron in the Middle East will be outfitted with the 250lb bombs, the Wall Street Journal has reported

American warplanes recently deployed to the Middle East will be armed with guided “bunker buster” bombs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. US officials told the newspaper that the move is explicitly aimed at Iran.

Citing anonymous officials, the newspaper reported that the planes will each be fitted with up to 16 GBU-39/B guided bombs. Weighing 250lb (113kg), these munitions are designed to penetrate fortified positions – such as underground command bunkers – before exploding.

“The decision to put more powerful weapons on a squadron of A-10 Warthogs was designed to give pilots a greater chance of success in destroying ammunition bunkers and other entrenched targets in Iraq and Syria, where US forces have been repeatedly targeted by Iran-backed fighters,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The paper did not specify whether these planes would operate out of US bases in Iraq and Syria, but did state that their deployment was intended to send a “message to Iran.” The aircraft arrived at a base in the United Arab Emirates late last month, shortly after their deployment was announced by US Central Command commander Gen. Michael Kurilla.

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The A-10 Thunderbolt, more commonly known as the ‘Warthog’, is a slow-moving, heavily armored aircraft usually employed to provide close air support to troops on the ground. In service since the 1970s, it saw extensive use in the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The deployment of these aircraft to the Middle East comes at a time of heightened tension between Iran and the US. Shortly before the Wall Street Journal’s report was published, state TV in Tehran aired footage of Iranian commandos seizing a US-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, after it was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run incident with another ship.

The incident came a week after the Iranian navy claimed that it intercepted a US submarine near its waters and forced it to surface. American officials say the submarine was sent to the region to deter a potential Iranian attack on a commercial ship.

Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack on one of its military factories earlier this year, while militia groups aligned with Tehran have carried out numerous attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria in recent years. US President Joe Biden ordered an airstrike on what he claimed was an Iranian-linked facility in Syria last month.