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| The Really Big Massive Ordnance Penetrator | |
| 2004-11-15 | |
November 15, 2004: The U.S. Air Force has backed off on building a nuclear deep penetration bomb, and is instead going with one using conventional explosives. The new bomb, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), will weight 15 tons and be carried internally by the B-2 or B-52 bombers. The MOP will be guided, by GPS (as well as other methods.) First test models are to be available in 2005. Operational characteristics (how deep the bomb can go in different types of material) has not been announced. And probably won't be, as you would want to keep that data secret lest the bad guys dig too deep for MOP to reach them.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 Forgot the link http://home.aol.com/nukeinfo2/ |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2004-11-15 6:22:53 PM |
| #8 Once again the DOD is re-inventing the wheel. The USAAF/USAF went down this road in the 40s and 50s both with US produced copies of Barnes Wallis's Tallboy and Grand Slam plus its own home grown designs. There's a good link hear on the "earthquake bombs" The T-12 weighed in at 42,000 LBS |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2004-11-15 6:22:16 PM |
| #7 Ah, there are a few problems with meteor attacks. First and foremost, it takes a long time to get a suitable rock (nickel-iron, 5-40m) on a collision course... even if you've got the delta-V capabilities. We're talking about a couple years. Yes, I've spent a bit of time thinking about it. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2004-11-15 3:16:32 PM |
| #6 Yep, I wonder what kind of velocity a Titan using powered re-entry could give it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-15 3:04:07 PM |
| #5 This is an application just looking for a meteor attack. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2004-11-15 2:26:15 PM |
| #4 I'd like to see them name the next big mofo bomb the CLU-X4. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-11-15 10:33:32 AM |
| #3 The MOAB is a very limited use weapon, being a ground burst device that had to be carried by a C-130. Only good against large soft targets with no air defense. The MOP is designed for deep buried hard targets like the Nork and Iranian nuke facilities. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-11-15 9:57:44 AM |
| #2 what a waste of our taxpayers money! Some might say that SMN , others might just think its a good investment to have for one of those 'rainy' days . |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-15 9:45:36 AM |
| #1 Ho-Humm...I guess it will store and gather dust just as the MOAB has, what a waste of our taxpayers money! |
| Posted by: smn 2004-11-15 9:34:21 AM |