Free Republic

In February of 2013, skywatchers around the world turned their attention toward asteroid 2012 DA14, a cosmic rock about 150 feet (50 meters) in diameter that was going to fly closer to Earth than the spacecraft that bring us satellite TV. Little did they realize as they prepared for the once-in-several-decades event that another bit of celestial debris was hurtling toward Earth, with a more direct heading. On Feb. 15, 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor, a roughly 62-foot (19 meter)-diameter asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, as it entered Earth's atmosphere at a shallow angle. The blast shattered windows...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is asking Congress for money to speed deployment of the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker busting super bomb on the B-2 stealth bomber for potential use in heavily defended areas of the world, such as Iran and North Korea. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) asked Congress for permission to move $68 million in the 2010 DOD budget to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster program to enable the first four super bombs can be carried by the B-2 stealth bomber by next year, according to published reports.

Are we going to have an October surprise, an attack on Iran by either the Bush administration or by Israel to stop the regime from becoming a nuclear power? It could happen - and alter the dynamics of the presidential race in the blink of an eye - but only if Israel pulls the trigger. Don't expect the United States to drop bombs anytime soon

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 a new 30,000 pound-class penetrator weapon that Northrop Grumman has begun integrating on the aircraft. 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 AFB, 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 Company, is a...

U.S., Israel Ponder How to Slow Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development By David A. Fulghum and Douglas Barrie 09/10/2006 04:47:58 PM BUSTING THE BOMB The fighting in southern Lebanon revealed Iran's willingness to supply sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah, and one of its ships was intercepted trying to do just that for Hamas in the Palestinian territories. A continuing series of tests has demonstrated Iran's growing arsenal of ballistic, tactical and sea-based weapons, and Western intelligence officials anticipate its fielding of locally built versions of fighter-launched, long-range, air-to-surface missiles. But the real fear is Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Once built, they...

Iran's Mix-and-Match Air Force Still May Have Bite Aviation Week & Space Technology 09/11/2006 Authors: Douglas Barrie and Andy Nativi Israel's 1981 strike against Iraq's Osirak nuclear site was achieved without loss of any aircraft. But it is far from guaranteed that an attack intended to degrade any Iranian nuclear weapons program would have the same outcome. The Iranian air force inventory is a mix of Western, Russian and Chinese combat aircraft--most of them obsolescent. Any spares for Western aircraft will have to be bought surreptitiously, or be work-arounds found using local technology because an arms embargo remains in place....

They're sibling bombs, each weighing three or more times than a Hummer H2, born of engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate and defense contractors. The 30,000-pound MOP -- Massive Ordnance Penetrator -- is growing up outside the media spotlight. That's in contrast to its older brother the MOAB -- the 21,600-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- even though there's tension between America and Iran. MOAB was dubbed Mother of All Bombs and played to the hilt by the Defense Department as part of a psychological warfare operation against Saddam Hussein in March 2003. The glide bomb was...

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News) demonstrated a key technology milestone for the integration of a boosted penetrator warhead with a long-range cruise missile that can be used against hard and deeply buried targets. ADVERTISEMENT In the test, held at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, in Socorro, NM, the penetrator was expelled from a missile body using a small discharge pressurization device. "This is a unique method of attacking hard and deeply buried targets," said Jim Pappafotis, director of Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We made a...