Posted on 09/19/2009 5:30:50 AM PDT by lbryce
The Pentagon is trying to speed up the deployment of an ultra-large bunker-busting bomb, which would constitute the largest non-nuclear bomb the U.S. has ever used. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, is a 30,000-pound bomb that would dive deeper than any previous bomb, and could be strapped to B-2 or B-52 bombers by July of 2010.
The MOP is 20 feet long and can penetrate bunkers up to 200 feet before exploding. At 15 tons, the MOP is a third heavier than the previous "mother of all bombs", the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, which was only 10.5 tons. The MOP also packs a whopping 5,300 lbs of explosives, which is 10 times the amount its predecessor bunker-buster, the BLU-109, carried. Basically, it's massive.
The push for accelerated deployment is due to the increased perceived nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. It's believed that many of their nuclear programs could be in development underground, below levels of current bunker-busting bombs' range. The Pentagon intends the rapid deployment to send a message that the United States is tweaking strategies to address new threats. And nothing is more American than advertising the sheer size and tonnage of the bombs hanging below our jets.
So true.
folks need to remember that the “massive” portion” of this ordinance is NOT the amount of explosive material inside; but rather the mass of the device itself.
The secret sauce is in its ability to penetrate, survive the journey through substrates designed to NOT let it penetrate, and then have live fuses to detonate its relatively modest amount of explosive. STILL, it’ll carry plenty to destroy what’s in the bunker, etc etc.
And just to reinforce my point, we CAN always use more than one on the same target.
:-D
Cheers!
Sure would be handy for breaking up the clay soil in my yard.
Yeah. I read about this in some Middle-Eastern periodical. It’s the latest dating craze among the the oil-rich royalty set. Facebook + Matchmaker +1001 Arabian Nights.
Good news such weapons exist,
Bad news is they are under the control of a mohammedan coward and traitor like the caliph in chief.
How did they get this past the presidents desk?
“we CAN always use more than one on the same target”
of course.....when you wrote THAT, General Schwarzkopf showing off our skills by narrating a gun camera sequence of a strike in which we put a round down the shaft of a nice target bldg during Desert Storm came to mind.....we can hit whatever we want......I also loved his description of the “luckiest guy in Iraq” in another video of a bridge hit where a taxicab had just passed the hitpoint and the bridge fell away 20 feet behind the car as he was driving, LOL
Gawd, I loved Gen Schwarzkopf!......he gave us our military espirit de corps back!
IAF has C-130’s...could they use those?
>> Do you know who our president is? <<
Let’s just say the office is vacant until 2012.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
The majority of the blast is directed to the target, not wasted on empty air above.
Much like armor piercing rounds, the area of penetration is unimpressive to the untrained eye. It’s what happens behind the little hole that is important.
unimpressive to the untrained eye.
yeh yeh.....wait till you read #31.....
By the way, the picture is not the MOP. MOP is much bigger and has “waffle” fins that are deployed perpendicular to the bomb-body.
The picture is not the MOP.
The picture is a 5,000lb “bunker-buster,” not the 30,000lb MOP.
MOP is capable of penetrating much deeper than stated, and it has fuzing that ensures it goes off at the right time, through some very reinforced WMD bunkers.
http://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090511-083.pdf
Starting on page 179 are the MOP budgeting documents.
All four committees of the congress have signed off on this budget amount.
Just like most of our weapons we will never use it in any situation. Waste of time and money . We don’t even use things like this as a deterrent . I ask , why bother?
The pictures in the original post are of the 5,000lb bunker-buster, not a test version, but one that is fully deployed.
MOP is MUCH larger and not pictured in the post.
We are already enslaved.
Please see Posts 55 & 57.
Killed...maybe, enslaved...not a chance!
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