Posted on 01/27/2012 5:14:51 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Pentagon Seeks Mightier Bomb vs. Iran By ADAM ENTOUS And JULIAN E. BARNES
WASHINGTON—Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb isn't yet capable of destroying Iran's most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping up efforts to make it more powerful, according to U.S. officials briefed on the plan.
The 30,000-pound "bunker-buster" bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, was specifically designed to take out the hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to cloak their nuclear programs.
But initial tests indicated that the bomb, as currently configured, wouldn't be capable of destroying some of Iran's facilities, either because of their depth or because Tehran has added new fortifications to protect them.
Doubts about the MOP's effectiveness prompted the Pentagon this month to secretly submit a request to Congress for funding to enhance the bomb's ability to penetrate deeper into rock, concrete and steel before exploding, the officials said.
The push to boost the power of the MOP is part of stepped-up contingency planning for a possible strike against Iran's nuclear program, say U.S. officials.
The Defense Department has spent about $330 million so far to develop about 20 of the bombs, which are built by Boeing Co. The Pentagon is seeking about $82 million more to make the bomb more effective, according to government officials briefed on the plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ok, then use 10 of those consecutively in the same spot - they’ll hit it sooner or later.
Smile
I like it
I was gonna say, just drop it from higher and let it fall faster to strike the target before exploding!
A steel rod 1 foot in diameter with fins on it dropped from an orbiting vehicle might just do it at 20,000 MPH, ya think?
They did not build a bigger bomb, they just used what they had in an elegant fashion. Rather than target the actual site, the British targeted the perimeter of the site. The bombs would detonate to the side and below the actual target, leaving a huge hollow cavity that the hardened facility would slide into.
Think of it as creating an artificial sink hole close enough to you target, so said target falls into the void.
I don't see why this would not work in this case. Oh...my bad...we actually have to have someone in charge that would carry out the attack.
is that your site??
I ABSOLUTELY want to copy those pages and the information!!
Rods from God.
Of course it really doesn’t matter what you have,
if you don’t have the will to use it.
I remember a scene from highschool,
a friday night fight, someone pulled a knife,
someone else pulled a gun,
the guy with the knife proceeded to stab the guy
with the gun...
I’m afraid even rods probably have a terminal velocity < 20 KMPH. But no doubt such a weapon would work, even at substantially less speed. I think we have bombs that go really fast and are made of concrete. No explosives, but the energy released by the fast deceleration does the job with less risk of collateral damage.
The trouble I have with this is they’ll just dig down deeper and render any such deep-reach bomb obsolete before the first one is deployed. I like the notion of simply blasting the surface clear and blow up anything that tries to dig out. Sooner or later the little bastids have to come out to use whatever they make down there.
This baby aught to get'er done!
Or maybe one of these
Iranians are the most experienced tunnelers in the world, have been for 2,500 years.
They are well aware of the MOAB and bunker buster technology.
The minimum depth at the entrance of the nuke facility under construction near Quom is 300 feet of rock. It is fully self contained and off the grid.
They know they won’t get nuked.
Though popularly believed to be so, WWII bombing just wasn’t that accurate. Here’s one example -
“At the same time, Britain’s air force began to realise that its bombers were not able to find and hit specific war targets such as airfields or armament factories. An investigation revealed that just one in five aircraft was succeeding in dropping its bombs within five miles of its target. Under such circumstances, the bombing offensive could only be effective if it was directed at targets as big as cities.
The Americans too found themselves moving towards area bombing of cities. Although they would continue to claim that they were engaged in ‘precision’ bombing of military targets, 80 per cent of their bombing missions in the last quarter of 1944 relied on radar. Half of their bombs missed the aiming point by more than two miles.”
What about a G-hardened sub-kiloton upgrade to the GBU-28 already delivered, based on the W33?
The GBU-28 max’s out at 100 feet of dirt. The Iranians are 300 feet+ of rock at the recessed entrance, the rest of the facility goes much deeper. Nukes couldn’t dig em’ out.
How about we effed up Saudia Arabia and Iran straight up? No, we have to fight everyone, but them. Joke’s on joe populace.
How much damage would the 7 kilograms of used kitty litter from Sneaky the cat's litterbox inflict if it was traveling at a velocity of 90% c?Ker = ((1/sqrt(1 - P2)) - 1) * M * 9e16
Ker = ((1/sqrt(1 - 0.92)) - 1) * 7 * 9e16
Ker = 8.2e17 Joules, about 195 megatons.
Not bad, for kitty litter.
Bury them so they can't get out.
Target the supply lines, air, power, communications.
There ya go...
Well then...use them like a PHD (post hole digger) and keep dropping them in the same hole until the required depth
is reached. I would think no more than five or six would do it.
If that isn’t enough then burn your way in with some thermonuclear devices.
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