Posted on 12/21/2005 6:50:17 PM PST by strategofr
Some of what you suggest would be possible (to an extent) however the ramifications of enemy fighters that would move into Iraq (from Iran) would increase 100X fold over night. Which would cause a very complex and difficult problem.
Any large scale action against Iran is quite a ways off - We would need 60,000 to 100,000 + more troops moved into Iraq / Stan prior to any action taking place. All the rest is hot air until you see this happening.
Though, Iraqi troops could certainly be part of this equation.
Their main tactic would be to send in suicide tanks faster than we could re-arm the tank and anti-tank crews to blow them up.
I see them planning an invasion of Iraq as soon as we pull out.
You may not, but there are plenty of acting Commanders and Generals who certainly do (and securing the peace and preventing an huge influx of fighters heading into Iraq would all be part of any action against Iran).
Bunker busting, with nucs? Ridiculous! Try this idea(already sent to the IDF) : a long telephone pole of a missile, carried in a box in a cargo plane, kicked out the back door as a box of cylinders tied together by strings. In free fall the whole open ended string-of-pearls is pulled into a long, straight cylinder. Take a loose string of pearls hanging vertically, then pull tight on the string ends and hold, turn 90 deg and you still have a straight line of beads. So this long(40' to 50')missile floats down with a parasail parachute(or free falls, burying its nose into the ground). Then the body is magnesium and oxidizer beads, impact begins the burning; gyro controls/reaction jets in the tail section keep it vertical. Like a welder's HOT ROD it keeps on burning down, down, down, blowing exhaust gases around the cylinder(s). Since Mg burns at some 5000 deg F it will go thru rock, steel, whatever, like a HOT knife thru soft butter. If the first HOT ROD missile doesn't make it to the bunker a second, third... one will. Thus no need for nucs to hammer deep set bunkers, a precise HOT ROD is exactly the weapon one needs for this kind of work. The bunker is taken out(FRIED MOLES)and yet the nearby shrine is untouched, a nice, precision strike, something that we're very good at, having practiced on saddam's missile sites for so many years. It sort of relates to submarines and depth charges from destroyers, except that the "sub" in this case is immoveable, you still need to know its PRECISE location though. That's where the Iranian opposition comes in, getting that info to us. Like the idea? W=P
They have a death wish it would appear..
"Their main tactic would be to send in suicide tanks faster than we could re-arm the tank and anti-tank crews to blow them up."
solution: air power.
"I see them planning an invasion of Iraq as soon as we pull out."
Agreed. We should pull back into a hard shell surrounding Iraq, leaving 90% of the country to the Iraqis to pacify. Keep our full forces there to deter invasion and eliminate infiltration. I believe both missions could be carried out with extremely low casualties---close to none.
Iranian rockets cannot reach American cities. Hence, this scenario will never come to fruition. Had they been able to threaten American cities, and Iran did threaten us or Europe with missiles, then there is a high probability of taking place.
The author is daydreaming.
"Like the idea? W=P"
I love it. Stabilization of the vertical would be a huge problem.
Seems like a gentle drop would be best. Wireless Camcorders mounted throughout unit, motors everywhere in unit, remote control via a nearby plane (multiple human operators linked by a semi-automatic computer system.) Their goal would be stabilization.
How about a double drop? First is the Mole--optimized for digging through a lot of dirt. 2nd is more like your idea?
Another idea from Strategy Page: Just keep lobbing conventional missiles onto the same spot.
"Can we at least let the women leave before we start the bombing??"
We can let that one leave.
"If the Iranian oil fields were captured, the Iranian economy would quickly collapse."
My own favorite plan. All their oil is in the Khuzsekstan province---next to Iraq and occupied by Arabs! (Arabs hate Persians.)
send no troops, just missiles....the MX type.
There is a new assault breaker bomb that can destroy some 20 tanks in one drop.
http://www.tealgroup.com/samples/sample-wmb.pdf
Read about the BAT stuff on page 2 and 3.
Anybody know more about the new generation of these weapons? I read in the Air Force magazine that an F16 dropped one bomb that was able to individualize and destroy several tanks in Iraq...
Well we know Iran will have the media and democrat party rooting for them.
I was about to comment, then I saw the "max." You are very generous.
There. Fixed it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.