Posted on 07/26/2007 6:52:46 PM PDT by kddid
The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs -- a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities.
Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs.
Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations -- some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers.
In a recent NewsMax Magazine, Kenneth R. Timmerman's report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" predicted the U.S. would outfit B-2's as a prelude to an attack on Iran. [Editor's Note: Get this special report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" with our FREE offer -- Go Here Now]
Apparently the U.S. has big plans for Iran.
Northrop Grumman announced last week in a little noticed release that the company had begun integrating on the B-2's a new 30,000-pound-class "penetrator bomb" or bunker buster.
"The U.S. Air Force's B-2 Stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets" using the monster bunker buster, the company said in its release.
The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal.
The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is being developed by the Boeing Co., is a GPS-guided weapon containing more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside a 20.5-foot-long enclosure of hardened steel. It is designed to penetrate dirt, rock and reinforced concrete to reach enemy bunker or tunnel installations.
The B-2 is capable of carrying two MOPs, one in each weapons bay.
"This integration contract is part of Northrop Grumman's on-going effort to ensure that the B-2 remains capable of delivering a decisive blow to an increasingly sophisticated enemy," said Dave Mazur, vice president of long-range strike for the company's Integrated Systems sector.
"It is the first step in helping the Air Force make this new weapon available for operational use on the B-2."
According to Mazur, the Air Force is expected to make a decision later this year on whether to develop a limited operational capability for the MOP, or to proceed with a more comprehensive development program that would optimize the weapon's operational utility.
The current contract will focus on adapting the B-2's weapon bay fixtures to accommodate the new weapon.
The B-2 is currently equipped to carry up to 40,000 pounds of conventional ordnance.
“Don’t need explosives with that kind of weight at velocity. The kinetic energy alone will make quite the crater. Most likely they are guided depleted uranium reinforced concrete.”
Nope. Do a Google search on “MOP penetrator testing”.
The MOP is made from a used howitzer barrel, and is roughly 25,000 lb. of casing along with 5,000 lb. of explosive. Apparently it needed to be that big to couple with the tunnel structure for max damage when the explosive goes off.
The kinetic energy is to penetrate, the explosive is to destroy whatever got penetrated. ;-)
I added an extra zero just for effect.
Either that or Dearborn ;-)
True... 
Film at 11!
But the disparity of the two's dimensions was my point... 
that you evidently did not get.
Thus, we recap:
Re: 
Where did you get this photo and the source that it is one of the 30,000 20.5 feet long MOP as it certainly does not look to be either 20.5 feet long nor large enough to be 30,000 pounds...
Here is a 21,600-pound MOAB... 
and it is bigger (It is 30 feet long with a diameter of 40.5 inches) than the one you have pictured.
Now, Nathan... 
you got it?
Good point! Never thought of it quite like that before. Can we always identify an entrance or exit point from the air (or from orbit)?
Since we don't have any, and never did, how would you know?
The largest bomb ever dropped, although not an operational wepons, but rather a test device, was the Soviet Tsar Bomba of 1961, it did have yield of around 100 MT, but was much larger and quite a bit heavier than this bomb.
The largest yield US weapon was the B/MK-41 deployed '61 to '76. It had a 25 MT yield and weighed 10,670 lbs. It was close to the same size, not weight, as the MOP.
This is a photo of the test version, I used it because it has people in the photo for referance.
Since it weighed 10,000 lbs and only yield 25MT. I suspect a 100 MT bomb could be built that would be about the 30,000 lbs of the MOP.
Or did you mean a 100 KT weapon, which indeed can be be very small.
this 30,000 lb thing is a flying hunk of concrete
Not really, most of the weight is not explosive, just as with most "iron bombs", but has 5,300 lbs of explosive filler too. The thing also has to survive the penetration so it can explode, thus it needs a massive structure, which is heavy. The weight also helps the penetration of course.
calling cowards is easy. Use them and after its over, their grandchildren will know not to mess with anyone.
In the ME, isn’t that the point.
Considering a potential bombing of Iran, leave no Iranian stone unturned.
The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.North Korea, not Iran. Never a Muzzie state, not this "president".
That makes more sense ...and the threat is more immediate.
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