After decades of experience dropping the 2,268kg, laser-guided GBU-28 bunker buster bomb, the US Air Force (USAF) has selected the F-15E Strike Eagle to carry the next generation GBU-72.

The F-15E Strike Eagle is the USAF's all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-ground multi-role fighter.

It can conduct long range, high speed interdiction and bombing missions without relying on a fighter escort or electronic-warfare aircraft. Its advanced avionics enable the aircraft to conduct all-weather, low-altitude operations.

Since its initial deployment in 1990 with Operation Desert Shield, the F-15E has been engaged in all major US combat operations.

The GBU-72

The USAF completed its testing of the GBU-72 dropped from the F-15E Strike Eagle in October 2021.

After starting tests in July of that year, the USAF dropped the bunker buster from a high altitude release point of 10,668 meters.

The USAF released the bomb paired with a 907kg Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kit, testing the kit's ability to control and navigate the massive bomb. The JDAM turns any "dumb," free-fall bomb into a lethally accurate, precision-guided munition.

When paired with the JDAM tail kit, the bunker buster will be able to match the F-15E's all-weather capabilities.

Bunker busters are often designed with a programmable delayed fuse so that they can penetrate rock and concrete to certain depths before detonating.

The GBU-72 is configured to drop from both fighter jets and bombers and to punch through concrete-insulated bunkers hidden deep underground and other reinforced structures.

It was developed using advanced modeling and simulation techniques that substantially increase its lethality compared to the GBU-28, a decades-old bunker buster, according to the Air Force.

The GBU-28, which can ​​penetrate up to 50 meters of earth and 5 meters of solid concrete, saw significant success against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's underground command centers in the 1991 Gulf War.