HEAVILY ARMED B-52s Takeoff from RAF Fairford - Loaded with JDAM Bunker Busters

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Mid-Atlantic (and beyond) MilAir 2026

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/mid-atlantic-and-beyond-milair-2026.495977/page-117#post-4276528

HEAVILY ARMED B-52s Takeoff from RAF Fairford – Loaded with JDAM Bunker Busters

RankUpAviation
266 Likes
4,619 Views
Mar 25 2026
Royal Air Force Station Fairford (RAF Fairford)
Watch these two mighty B-52H Stratofortress bombers thunder down the runway at RAF Fairford, fully loaded with GBU-31 JDAM precision-guided bombs (2,000 lb class) under their wings as part of Operation Epic Fury.
In this epic departure:

61-0035 "Witches Brew" – the legendary bomber from the 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Wing, Minot AFB

60-0060 "Iron Butterfly" – another heavyweight from the Bomber Barons, also out of Minot AFB

Shot on location at RAF Fairford, March 2026 during the ongoing US strategic bomber deployment.

If you love raw military aviation, heavy bomber takeoffs, and serious combat loadouts — hit LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and turn on notifications so you never miss a departure!

B-52, B52 Stratofortress, JASSM, RAF Fairford, Operation Epic Fury, Minot AFB, Witches Brew, Iron Butterfly, Bomber Barons, USAF, heavy bomber takeoff, cruise missiles, 2026, HEAVILY ARMED B-52 Bombers Loaded Depart RAF Fairford | GBU-31 JDAMs Bunker Busters

Copyright Notice:
All footage is original and filmed by RankUpAviation. This video is for documentary and educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. Any Unauthorised use of any part of the video/clip would result in Copyright Strike.
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RankUpAviation
13.2K subscribers

[Deuxcents]

1. Locked and loaded for more death and mass destruction. Why? I though we won the war

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. What's the mission? Can anyone explain what we are trying to accomplish?

Other than disrupting the world economy?

[Bluetus]

3. You are reading this thread instead of the very significant Epstein revelations today

Well, OK, you are probably reading both, but that's what this is about at this stage. A billion dollars a day and another thousand Iranian lives mean nothing to Trump. And this does keep the media attention away from Epstein. Trump may have to keep this war going a long time because there really is no end to the evil Trump was involved in with Epstein.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. Of course. Trump has committed treason. proffited off stolen TS docs,

and he's stone walling justice for the underage sex crimes he was involved with.

Putin (stolen Russian wealth) -> Epstein (wealth manager) -> Trump (commercial real estate)

[Bluetus]

8. And it is working because

every damned politician from both parties (with about 20 exceptions in the Dem party and about 5 exceptions in the Guardians of Pedos Party) and 100% of the legacy media is unwilling or incapable to speak the plain truth out loud in simple English. Many hint at it by way of euphemisms, but these things need to be stated is such plain language as people cannot easily look the other way.

[OAITW r.2.0]

10. I don't know if you are aware. but....

Thinking people have abandoned broadcast news. The Right bought it.....profitable, like Murdock buying MySpace.

Real news and commentary are happening on the internet, Content like Medias Touch are telling the truth, this administration be damned.

[Bluetus]

11. Very much aware. I haven't watched any significant amount of teevee "news" for several decades

I'm in my 70s, so this may be somewhat unusual for my age group. But people 50 and younger have NEVER really watched the network "news" programs.

The sooner they die off, the better. They have always been far too eager to defer to the administration in power, but nowadays, they don't even make any pretense of being objective and comprehensive.

[msongs]

4. seems like a lot of plane for such small looking bombs nt

[Bluetus]

9. Cost is no object. How much did it cost to fly those two constrosities over there?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. AI Overview

The GBU-31 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) is a 2,000-pound precision-guided, all-weather air-to-surface weapon, combining a MK-84 or BLU-109 warhead with a GPS/INS-guided tail kit. It turns "dumb" bombs into smart weapons with a 15-mile range, allowing, precise, autonomous engagement from high altitudes,.
AF.mil +4

Key Characteristics & Capabilities
Guidance: GPS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) provides high accuracy, with an estimated circular error probable (CEP) of 9.6 to 13 meters.
Weight & Payload: ~2,000 lbs (900+ kg). Primarily uses MK-84 (high explosive) or BLU-109 (bunker buster) warheads.
Operational Range: Up to 15 miles (24 km).
Compatibility: Utilized by most U.S. inventory fighters and bombers, including F-15E, F-16, F-35, F/A-18, B-1B, B-2, and B-52.
Deployment: First deployed in 1999, it enables simultaneous, multi-target strikes.
Cost: Approximately $21,000–$40,000 per tail kit, according to {Link: Reddit users https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1rr8b1x/gbu31_v3b_bunkerbuster_bombs_being_loaded_onto_us/ and official Air Force data.
AF.mil +3

Operational Use
The system uses aerodynamic control surfaces on the tail to adjust flight path to the target, and if GPS signals are lost, it relies on the accurate INS. It is effective against fixed and hardened targets, especially in adverse weather conditions.
Facebook +3

[LearnedHand]

7. Stupidity aside, that's an awesome flying machine

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Geology as warfare: Iran put its missiles where physics, not diplomacy, keeps them safe

CNN satellite analysis and Alma Research findings show Iran’s underground tunnel cities, with internal rail systems that move missiles to blast-door exits, have survived the bombing campaign largely intact. The geology, analysts say, is the real defense.

Link to tweet

https://www.thestatesman.com/world/iran-underground-missile-railway-tunnel-us-israel-strikes-operation-epic-fury-1503573121.html

Three weeks of intensive US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure have destroyed radar systems, collapsed tunnel entrances, and cratered ventilation shafts across dozens of sites. Iran keeps firing. The reason, according to satellite analysis by CNN and assessments by Israeli security research centre Alma Research, lies not above the ground but hundreds of metres beneath it; inside a network of underground missile cities connected by internal railways, carved into mountains that no bomb in the current American or Israeli arsenal can fully reach.

Iran’s underground missile programme is not a recent improvisation. Reports that emerged as far back as 2020 claimed an automated railway system running through cavernous tunnels, transporting ballistic missiles between assembly halls, storage vaults, and blast-door exits. What is becoming clearer now, as Operation Epic Fury enters its fourth week, is the scale of what was built and the limits of what air power alone can do against it.....

The central constraint is geological, and it has now been publicly stated by Iran itself. Former IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that Iran built its missile bases across provinces and cities at a depth of 500 metres.

The most powerful weapon the United States has for destroying hardened underground targets is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator – a 30,000-pound bomb built specifically for this purpose. It can penetrate “approximately 60 metres of reinforced concrete or roughly 40 metres of moderate rock. Granite is harder than moderate rock. Five hundred metres is more than twelve times the weapon’s maximum penetration depth. The gap between the bomb and the tunnel is not a margin of error.”....

“IRGC did not prepare for this war by building rockets. It prepared by building railways inside mountains. The rockets are replaceable. The railways are permanent. And the granite that protects them was formed before mammals existed. The strait is 21 miles wide. The mountain is 500 metres deep. And the railway inside it is still delivering missiles to the surface,” he added.

Link to tweet

Iran has continued to fire ballistic missiles throughout Operation Epic Fury, including the attempted strike on the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia. Trump has said the operation is running weeks ahead of schedule and that Iran’s military is finished. The satellite imagery and the institutional assessments tell a more complicated story: one in which the visible war, fought above ground, has made genuine progress, and the invisible war, fought half a kilometre underground, has barely begun.

There is a reason why only one-third of Iran's missiles have been destroyed. Iran has been preparing for these attacks for decades. Iran's missile facilities are beyond reach of bunker buster bombs and there is no practical way without a very large number of troops to take out these missies.