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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 'US bunker-busters can't destroy some Iran nuke plants' |
| 2012-01-28 |
| US "Mass Ordnance Penetrators" fail initial testing, doubtful if they can take out underground, reinforced facilities, according to Wall Street Journal report; Pentagon asks congress to fund upgrade program. Really? Let's try it and see... Even the heaviest US bombs are not powerful enough to destroy some of Iran's more fortified nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying Friday. The Pentagon is taking steps to improve its "bunker-busting" capabilities, they added. The US's 30,000-pound (13,600 kilo) "Mass Ordnance Penetrator" (MOP) was specifically designed to be able to take out Iranian and North Korean nuclear facilities. According to the report, initial tests indicated that the bomb would be incapable of performing these tasks, either because of the depth of the facilities or their recent reinforcement. The Journal said that the MOP's test failure prompted a secret funding request by the Pentagon to US congress, seeking to enhance the bomb's capabilities. The US Defense Department has already spent approximately $330 million so far to develop about 20 of the bombs. The Pentagon is seeking an additional $82 million for upgrading purposes, according to government officials briefed on the plan. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #23 Bring back napalm. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-01-28 17:22 |
| #22 exactly the scenario in the last Stephen Coonts Jake Grafton/Tommy Carmellini book the Disciple. A great read. If you order it thru Amazon, do it via Fred's link and he gets some of the swag |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-01-28 15:36 |
| #21 He'll fires, sorry for the misspell. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2012-01-28 14:27 |
| #20 Sealing up the entrances and vents is the key. Smaller he fires could do it on the cheap. The plant will become a silent tomb. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2012-01-28 14:26 |
| #19 Then use two of them. |
| Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili 2012-01-28 13:42 |
| #18 I like your thinking, CF.... |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-01-28 12:59 |
| #17 Remove all the support infrastructure on the surface. Dresden style. No power or water into the facility, no people alive to go to work, nothing. In fact, taking out every single power generating plant in Iran would solve the problem as well. No electricity for anything and they get to live the 7th century dream all over again. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2012-01-28 12:15 |
| #16 Angupe, I agree and BTW, its called the small diameter bomb. I am thinking "Yucca mountain". |
| Posted by: Mike Ramsey 2012-01-28 11:53 |
| #15 Every underground bunker can also make a most excellent tomb.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-01-28 11:26 |
| #14 I really enjoy watching Rantburg respond to these tactical exercises... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-01-28 11:23 |
| #13 Use smaller devices to bury exits & exhaust vents to the surface. Repeat as necessary. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2012-01-28 10:48 |
| #12 Go along to the side... Make a big vertical hole with a bomb or 3. Put another bomb at 45 degrees to the hole under the base. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-01-28 10:42 |
| #11 There are other options to deal with bunkers: Have someone walk in with a suitcase nuke. Surround the joint, change air to gas, flood the hole with poison... Make the entire area so radioactive that the bunker becomes a ghosts town... |
| Posted by: Airandee 2012-01-28 10:26 |
| #10 The super-cavitation page does seem to have been removed..... |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-01-28 09:03 |
| #9 I'm surprised the DoD has not asked this website to remove this page. After a very successful test, not a damn thing has been written about this since. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-28 08:49 |
| #8 Since what needs to be destroyed is Iran's will to play with nukes, how is this a problem? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-01-28 08:07 |
| #7 Multiple drops only work if you can excavate the rubble, which otherwise acts as a shock absorber for subsequent hits. Can it be done? Maybe, if you have near-perfect control of timing and shock wave shape, and knowledge of the detailed mechanical properties of your target. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-01-28 07:45 |
| #6 multiple drops....first gives a nice little penetration...then keep filling the hole |
| Posted by: dan 2012-01-28 07:39 |
| #5 Reagan 'encouraged' the Soviet Union to spend itself into collapse; is Iran spending itself into similar collapse with this nuclear program? Will they respond similarly as their economy approaches meltdown? Or will they launch a war, like Germany did? Against who? Join with the also-faltering Assad and attack Israel to divert the attention of their peoples to a different opponent? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-01-28 07:37 |
| #4 I also understand that they have all kinds of different layers of rubble and reinforcing concrete to act like a big mattress on top to protect the facilities below. Sounds like a tough nut to crack. Is it possible that these MOPs could penetrate too far? Then a nuke could literally pop the bunker clean out of the ground! |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-01-28 05:10 |
| #3 I read once that Irans nuclear facilities are covered by 30 ft. of reinforced concrete. The question in my mind is not how do you blow a hole in ceiling, but rather how do you apply enough lateral force to the supporting structure to bring the ceiling down to floor level. |
| Posted by: junkiron 2012-01-28 04:38 |
| #2 rumors are that those things 'do not exist' OS. ;) |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2012-01-28 04:04 |
| #1 park a tac nuke likeone of the old nuke artillery shells, 1-5kt in the thing - penetratin does its stuff, gets the waarhead in deep, tac nuke does the rest. Bet that will take out any targets, and bonus: the nudet is undereground, nice and clean. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2012-01-28 02:56 |