US Fires 5,000-pound Bombs on Iranian Sites Near Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. military said on March 17 that it had carried out strikes on hardened Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz using multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X the strikes struck Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles stationed along Iran’s coastline that “posed a risk to international shipping in the strait.” The military used 5,000-pound bunker busters in the operation, weapons built to “overcome hardened, deeply buried target challenges” and capable of being deployed from fighter and bomber aircraft. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with about 20 percent of global oil supplies passing through the waterway each day. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted since the United States and Israel began military operations against Iran at the end of February, and Tehran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and U.S. military assets and targets across Gulf nations.

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