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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Pentagon "urgent operational need," 30,000 pound bunker busting bomb
2007-10-25
Breaking: The 12th imami haz indiscrete accidents, squirts massive skidmarks from Iraq to Tehran, send Depends..
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Citing an "urgent operational need," the Pentagon is seeking funds to modify B-2 stealth bombers to deliver an experimental 30,000 pound (13.6 tonne), satellite-guided bunker busting bomb, officials said Wednesday.
wooohooo heh if that don't warm your cockles nothing will..
The likely purpose of the new weapon is to strike Iran's underground nuclear facilities, experts said.
no shiite, seriously it's High Stakes Poker and Prez Bush just played an impotant card in a timely fashion..
"It raises a red flag," said Representative Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia who called for hearings on the request. "My immediate assumption is that it is a target in Iran, rather than Iraq or Afghanistan."
heh a G'D genius.. Jim Moran Moron a partisan hack if there ever was one, watch him do a "Pelosi" just to spite Prez Bush.
The air force has asked Congress for nearly 88 million dollars to complete development of the so-called Massive Ordnance Penetrator and modify B-2 bombers so that they can deliver it, an air force spokeswoman said.
Loving it..
"This program is an effort to satisfy an urgent operational need for the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000 pound (13,608 kilogram) GPS guided penetrator weapon on B-2 for hard and deeply buried" targets, the air force's request budget said.

The item was buried in a 42.3 billion dollar request for "war on terror" funding submitted by the administration last week, raising suspicions about the rush to field what would be the largest satellite guided conventional bomb in the US arsenal. "I do know they got interested in this around the time the Iranians began backfilling the large uranium enrichment facility at Natanz," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.Org, which follows military issues.
Heh.. possible clue..
The bomb is currently under development by Boeing under a "technology demonstrator" contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency that concludes this fiscal year.

A first test was conducted in March at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico using a "statically emplaced conventional weapon within a DTRA tunnel," according to the agency. Tests from a B-52 bomber are planned for next month and in July 2008, the agency said in a fact sheet on the bomb.

Pike described the bomb as "a big dart. It's basically just a long skinny pointy chunk of steel."
I'll have to calculate the joules again..
Its massive weight would drive the weapon through rock and reinforced concrete, he said. Fuzes could be used to detonate the explosives as it breaks through a ceiling into a void.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency said the MOP is approximately 20.5 feet (6.25 meters) long, with a 31.5-inch (80 centimeter) diameter and a total weight of slightly less than 30,000 pounds.
Made In The USA p0rn, best kind..
"The weapon will carry over 5,300 pounds (2,404 kilograms) of explosive material and will deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the BLU-109," it said. It has been designed to be carried inside B-52 and B-2 Stealth bombers.
Impressive, inside the the bomb bay of a B-2.. No warning no where to run no where to hide! Meester Dinnerjacket.. Knock Knock...
The funding request includes 83.5 million dollars to continue development of the weapon and 4.2 million dollars to modify the B-2s so that they can carry it, an air force spokeswoman said.
Pure Home Made p0rn
Posted by:Red Dawg

#34  YNET OP-ED > ISRAEL WILL HAVE TO ATTACK IRAN. Time is running out on the Iranian Bomb issue, and Israel can't afford to completely place its survival in the hands of diplomacy. Israel must prepare to act and stand alone.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-25 23:41  

#33  We can most likely do it, tw. It's just that hyper-velocity delivery vehicles can produce such incredibly more spectacular results. America can defeat its enemies on so many different levels at the same time that it almost becomes ridiculous save only for the opposition we face from sub-morons who refuse to accept our greatness. They do this with such undaunted determination whereby it seems most likely that honest citizens will need to subdue them by lethal force.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-25 23:00  

#32  I hope this doesn't mean we can't jury rig some sort of deep bunker buster plus delivery system if we need it sooner. It makes me uncomfortable to think we can't do anything about Iran before this thing is built.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-10-25 22:31  

#31  It needs a rocket engine in the tail, to increase its kinetic velocity. Raise it up to about 2,000 KMH just before impact. Harden the nose with titanium, let it burrow in. Put a second fuse in the tail with a timer, just to make sure it goes off, no matter what.

Word, OP. Our new hyper-sonic missile technology needs to be directed towards making final-stage vehicle munition deliveries arrive at insanely high velocities. We can do it. Recent advances in ablative shields and high-strength alloys should overcome a majority of issues.

The only other alternative is using precision guided selectable-yield nuclear devices and those should ALWAYS be reserved for Response In Kind and not first use. Fortunately, America has the scientific and technological resources to overcome such puny obstacles that otherwise confound the majority of our enemies.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-25 20:53  

#30  TOPIX/REDDIT > WHY DOES THE US NEED BUNKER BOMBS? article and similar. * ION, FLIGHTGLOBAL.com > CHINA'S NEW DARK SWORD UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE PROGRAMME RAISES SOME QUESTIONS. Design specs and early protos pointing at possible future STEALTHY AIR-SUPERIORITY/COMBAT UNMANNED DRONE??? PLAAF going all-out for the UAV gusto!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-25 20:35  

#29  
p0rn alert

Off Loading of MOP
Inside Tunnel MOP
Tunnel Complex
MOP Fact Sheet

there's lots more interesting stuff out there, bring sum back with you..

*one amusing part of this whole rock penetration story are the numbers of studies and papers by University physicist/experts who have put down actual numbers [depths] of rock, types of concrete, soil etc. that couldn't be penetrated due to the limits of Physics.

Funny thing is most if not all of the different NO-GO limits have been blown passed as in surpassed by the US Defense engineers, scientist and machinists! LOL!
Posted by: Red Dawg   2007-10-25 19:39  

#28  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_bomb

+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jdam

= Urgent operational need fulfilled.

Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2007-10-25 17:55  

#27  "Back of the napkin" calculations suggest it would probably be made of DU to be that heavy and still conform to those dimensions. 5300 pounds of explosives and a guidance system would take up a lot of volume.
Posted by: Canukistan   2007-10-25 16:26  

#26  Drop it from fucking orbit...it's the only way to be sure. Plenty o' kinetic energy that way.
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2007-10-25 16:08  

#25  what are the chances this was deliberately leaked to make everybody (in Teheran, in Moscow, etc) think harder?

I hope that's the case.
Posted by: Mike   2007-10-25 15:24  

#24  It needs a rocket engine in the tail, to increase its kinetic velocity. Raise it up to about 2,000 KMH just before impact. Harden the nose with titanium, let it burrow in. Put a second fuse in the tail with a timer, just to make sure it goes off, no matter what. Watch Ahmahdinnerjacket join the 12th Imam in that well...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2007-10-25 14:53  

#23  Keep me in mind when the test video comes out. I just have to remember to turn the volume down.
Posted by: Delphi   2007-10-25 14:04  

#22  How do you like American jihad Mamoud? F#ck you very much.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-10-25 11:05  

#21  For grins, I'd like to see the Air Force release a drawing of how the weapon works with an example of it hitting a bunker system that looks just like the Russian command center in the Urals...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2007-10-25 09:59  

#20  100%
Posted by: Darrell   2007-10-25 09:58  

#19  what are the chances this was deliberately leaked to make everybody (in Teheran, in Moscow, etc) think harder?
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2007-10-25 09:44  

#18  They’ll never see the left hook that hits them. The Haliburton Earthquake and Tsunami Division just needs them to locate their facilities at the proper depth to in order to seal them permanently, equipment and personnel, in o’mother Gaia for archeologist to find in about a thousand years. Just keep releasing reports like this for another few months, keep’m diggin and HETD will have the fault lines aligned. :)
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-10-25 09:32  

#17  Puzzling. Remember the "deep digger" weapon? The deep penetrator that had cannon mounted in its nose, and could penetrate for more than any other bunker buster?

The tested it, and it worked great. And I haven't seen word one about it since.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-10-25 09:27  

#16  Don't these Persians understand it is a cycle of violence? Keep digging, varmints. The USAF will just make'em bigger.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-10-25 08:58  

#15  The only thing I don't like about this is that some lucky Basij is going to get to see it before me. But I guess he'll see it coming through his ceiling at 2a.m.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2007-10-25 07:37  

#14  Wars of one kind or another are highly likely for the next 10-15 years, Joe, in a lot of different places.

It's going to be a long tough battle - one we are not guaranteed to win and one we won't win if the Morans and Pelosis have their way.
Posted by: lotp   2007-10-25 06:26  

#13  AMERICAN THINKER > DID KIM SEND NUKE MATERIALS TO SYRIA? Kim knows how to smuggle + NK has Yongybon, i.e. reportedly already has plutonium and uranium nucmats. As for Radical Iran and Islamists, they can choose to make their own or better yet buy from NK andor Pakistan, etc. IOW, ANTI-US-WESTERN NUCTECH/NUCMATS PROLIFERATION WON'T STOP BECUZ OF 9/6. SUB-IOW, WAR IS COMING + HIGHLY LIKELY IN NEAR TERM???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-25 04:42  

#12  B-2. Suggests to me where the MOP is going to be used in the grand scheme of things: First! As it ought to be. When operations are in full swing, hopefully. Get the technical folk and the rest of the program dies out. Hopefully there will be room somewhere for a few Bunker-Busters in the payload for use along the way back, too.

And I had no idea Afghanistan had such a robust air defense network. :-)

I'll have to calculate the joules again..

What terminal velocity did you have in mind, RD? :-) Seriously, though, it seems for a deep strike you would need some altitude, which may be a problem near Iran's nuclear facilities.
Posted by: gorb   2007-10-25 04:37  

#11  If he opposes this then he is a pure traitor - by just having such a weapon it forces the Iranians to deal because their bunkers are no longer safe. If he prevents this weapon from being adapted, then he is directly and completely endangering the saftey of the US.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-10-25 02:32  

#10  Here's to Iran being repeatedly penetrated, in the Biblical sense, of course.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-25 02:32  

#9  Well for Jimmy Moron, its either this or a micro nuke.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-10-25 02:00  

#8  Either way Joe, the thought of the B-2 dropping these on a well deserving foe just gives me a chubby.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-10-25 01:26  

#7  LUCIANNE/TOPIX > US has denied that these bombs are for IRAN - however, TOPIX/REDDIT > request for more B-2's is being interpreted as for conflict wid Iran. *Iff NOT Iran or other US requirement, that leaves NORTH KOREA???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-25 01:19  

#6  Warm, fuzzy feeling. No apologies.
Posted by: Verlaine   2007-10-25 01:06  

#5  Probably not a new observation, but sometimes you need to reach for the MOP to do the serious clean up.
Posted by: Ulailing Scourge of the Faith3257   2007-10-25 00:52  

#4  Sea, there's a funny blog post and pictures of Hitchens going to a spa to get his gonads waxed at the Chase Me Ladies site you mentioned.

"Just Say Ouch"
Posted by: danking70   2007-10-25 00:49  

#3  Headline reminds me of the Chase Me Ladies, I'm With the Cavalry blog:

URGENT! Please send 300 kilos of white mice. No time to explain.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-10-25 00:31  

#2  Hopefully they also ordered about 50 of them.
Posted by: JAB   2007-10-25 00:28  

#1  So will the Dems block this funding request and allow Iran the bomb?
Posted by: danking70   2007-10-25 00:12  

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