US arms warplanes in Mid-East with bunker buster bombs vs Iran, Syia

The US military has put 250-pound precision-guided Bunker Busting Bombs for the first time in the Middle East on its warplanes, the WST reports. The disclosure comes a day after CENTCOM head Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla toured Israeli bases on Friday, April 28.  Pentagon officials disclosed that the GBU-39/B bunker busters would be placed on the A-10-Thunderbolt assault planes deployed in the region earlier this month, as a deterrent to Iran. US warplanes are now equipped to strike the Iran-backed Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq that are constantly attacking US forces.

Each A-10 warplane can carry 16 GBU bombs. The US Middle East Air Force chief Gen. Alexis Grynkewich said: “The A-10s are highly effective at some of the things we need to do.” In fact, these warplanes are relatively slow and outdated although their targeting capacity is effective and precise.
According to the general, the new A-10 squadron represents a 50pc increase in the number of attack aircraft in the region. The upgrade will give the Warthogs more firepower than F-15 jet fighters. Washington has, moreover, also deployed to the Gulf the USS Florida nuclear submarine which carries150 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As recently as Thursday, Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized a tanker bound for Texas, although Tehran claimed that the tanker rammed one of its vessels and then fled. This was the fifth such incident in recent months. Washington accused Tehran of a breach of international law and demanded the tanker’s release without delay.

On Friday, Iran stepped up its diplomatic assault by sending its foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, to Beirut. While touring the Lebanese-Israel border, he said, “Positive developments in the region will lead to the collapse of the Zionist entity,” adding, “Zionists understand only strength.” The minister said Iran continues to “support the resistance in the face of the Zionist enemy.”