Posted on 04/05/2007 11:17:57 AM PDT by NavyCanDo
As U.S. concern about the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran have grown, weapons designers have been working on bombs capable of destroying those countries' underground nuclear sites.
Some nuclear facilities in both countries are believed to be buried deep, so U.S. designers — including some from Boeing — are developing a new class of bombs for plowing through hundreds of feet of earth and concrete before detonating.
The latest of these weapons is the MOP — short for Massive Ordnance Penetrator — built by Boeing's Advanced Systems unit in St. Louis. The 20-foot-long bomb that weighs 30,000 pounds — much heavier than the 21,000-pound MOAB, or Massive Ordnance Air Burst bomb, unveiled in the prelude to the Iraq war. The MOAB was designed by the Air Force Research Lab and is built at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma.
The MOP is an unusual bomb in that more than 80 percent of its 15 tons is in its casing, while it carries only 5,300 pounds of explosive payload
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
It’s MOAB on Viagra. And it’s got a stiffy for you Iran.
I have one of these
Wasn’t the MOAB dropped out of the back of a cargo plane? And wasn’t it equipped with a chute?
My word, how does the USAF deliver something as large as the MOP?
Kah-Booooooommmmm!!! Sounds like one super-duper uppercut.
A stiffy or a bomb?
Yeah, but will it stop road side bombs?
I read it is intended that this new bomb will be deployed on either a B-2.1 or B-52 bomber.
"Boeing's Massive Ordnance Penetrator is prepared March 14 for a test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in this photo by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The 30,000-pound bomb, which would be the heaviest in the U.S. arsenal, is designed to penetrate deeply buried targets."
Disguise it as an asteroid and drop it from such a high altitude that the islamofacists in Iran would never believe it was something done by the “Great Satan”. It would have to be judgment from Allah for their indidelity.
Nope, you’re looking for the new Swiss Army Bomb, it can estabilish civil order and stand up a replacement military.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/images/tallboy2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/dshtw.htm&h=550&w=755&sz=50&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=znnN6Xg3MwBLpM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMassive%2BOrdnance%2BPenetrator%2B%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
Milk shakes or Kleenex or Gucci leather or red herrings won’t stop IEDs either. Should we be against them? Do you have a point? Or is the point and purpose of this weapon lost on you?
You're thinking of the "Daisy Cutter", originally designed for clearing out jungle for helicopter LZs:
Enough news releases, use the thing!
MOAB is also dropped from a cargo plane.
Why not test it on the Afgan/Pakistan border?
As a matter of fact, I do believe that dropping these in the proper places in Iran WOULD stop road side bombs in Iraq.
Ah mennnnn’
the MOAB was dropped out of a bigger plane, like a C-5A or a C-141 I think.
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.