It's a big 'un for sure and for certain.
Posted on 07/26/2007 6:52:46 PM PDT by kddid
The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs -- a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities.
Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs.
Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations -- some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers.
In a recent NewsMax Magazine, Kenneth R. Timmerman's report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" predicted the U.S. would outfit B-2's as a prelude to an attack on Iran. [Editor's Note: Get this special report "The Coming War with Iran: 6 Days of Hell" with our FREE offer -- Go Here Now]
Apparently the U.S. has big plans for Iran.
Northrop Grumman announced last week in a little noticed release that the company had begun integrating on the B-2's a new 30,000-pound-class "penetrator bomb" or bunker buster.
"The U.S. Air Force's B-2 Stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets" using the monster bunker buster, the company said in its release.
The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal.
The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is being developed by the Boeing Co., is a GPS-guided weapon containing more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside a 20.5-foot-long enclosure of hardened steel. It is designed to penetrate dirt, rock and reinforced concrete to reach enemy bunker or tunnel installations.
The B-2 is capable of carrying two MOPs, one in each weapons bay.
"This integration contract is part of Northrop Grumman's on-going effort to ensure that the B-2 remains capable of delivering a decisive blow to an increasingly sophisticated enemy," said Dave Mazur, vice president of long-range strike for the company's Integrated Systems sector.
"It is the first step in helping the Air Force make this new weapon available for operational use on the B-2."
According to Mazur, the Air Force is expected to make a decision later this year on whether to develop a limited operational capability for the MOP, or to proceed with a more comprehensive development program that would optimize the weapon's operational utility.
The current contract will focus on adapting the B-2's weapon bay fixtures to accommodate the new weapon.
The B-2 is currently equipped to carry up to 40,000 pounds of conventional ordnance.
b.s.
there’s no consensus for bombing iran.
hillary, kerry, kennedy et. al. were on board for iraq.
bombing iran — the country would come unglued.
bush would be impeached the next day.
Now that's harsh!
It's a big 'un for sure and for certain.
A This thing is probably about the size a modern 100 MT nuke would be, if we had any.
Actually many 10 or 100 KT nukes would be better. If they too were hardened bunker busters.
we should have bombed Iran years ago. If not for the nuke program, for sending bombs into Iraq. See how much they interfere in Iraq when they are in bomb shelters. About to believe it will never happen.
This will be launched from Missouri. Close enough. And it will use GPS to both get it near the target, and finally to get it *on* the target. It's just that the carrier vehicle will be manned, by two Air Force officers who really don't mind the long ride, really they don't. :)
Uh, duh, Tora Bora?
Garmin is headquartered here in Kansas. Good GPS. I think that you will find silos a bit further north somewhere in the sugar beet fields. If they are here in Kansas there is no need to go talking about them.
“It was a joke.”
Joking about nukes again?!? heh
“No fighting in the war room!”
30,000 lb bomb. I guess they can say it blowed up good, it blowed up real good.
80 lb max at Ft. Hood or range control would shut you down.
I still need someone to explain it to me. What, in God’s good name, is the advantage of sticking facilities underground?
Seal off the tunnels, and keep sealing off the tunnels, and the underground facility remains useless. WHAT am I missing here?
“Actually many 10 or 100 KT nukes would be better. If they too were hardened bunker busters.”
Here’s what you need to know about the Trident Mk II:
“8 W88 300-475 kiloton MIRVs in a solid-fuel Mk 5 PBV”
That’s from globalsecurity.org...
Just shipped here by JimRob himself because we were lurking on a duplicate thread. Hey, everybody! [/Dr. Nick Rivera]
I checked the original Northrop Grumman Press Release at http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=123187 and it says this and also mentions the B-2’s combat load is 40,000 pounds, so I wonder about the conflict this makes...
Yet I trust if anyone can figure out a way to put 60,000 pounds of whipass into a 40,000 pound sack, it would be Northrop Grumman!
BTW Yesterday I discovered Northrop Grumman has opened an officer here in my small town of Corsicana some 56 miles south of Dallas deep in the heart of Texas.
I wish to welcome them here!
should read:Re: The B-2 is capable of carrying two MOPs, one in each weapons bay.
I checked the original Northrop Grumman Press Release at http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=123187 and it says this and also mentions the B-2’s combat load is 40,000 pounds, so I wonder about the conflict this makes...
Yet I trust if anyone can figure out a way to put 60,000 pounds of whipass into a 40,000 pound sack, it would be Northrop Grumman!
BTW Yesterday I discovered Northrop Grumman has opened an officer here in my small town of Corsicana some 56 miles south of Dallas deep in the heart of Texas.
I wish to welcome them here!
“I checked the original Northrop Grumman Press Release at http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=123187 and it says this and also mentions the B-2’s combat load is 40,000 pounds, so I wonder about the conflict this makes...
Yet I trust if anyone can figure out a way to put 60,000 pounds of whipass into a 40,000 pound sack, it would be Northrop Grumman!”
I’m pretty sure there were significant safety margins inherent in the B-2’s design. Still, these must be sphincter clenching changes for the pilots...heroes all.
Actually, a notice of this sort can bring folks like this to the table and prevent the need to use the things at all.
That loud squeaking sound you may have heard recently was Mahmoud’s anal sphincter drawing tighter than it was thought humanly possible to draw one.
“That loud squeaking sound you may have heard recently was Mahmoud’s anal sphincter drawing tighter than it was thought humanly possible to draw one.”
Yah. In reference to my post above, any sphincter clenching by our pilots is sure to be reciprocated by the Iranians tenfold. lol
Nukes are too scary for too many voters.
Too many politicians love their jobs more than they love our country. They won't have the spine to use nukes until we've lost millions to one ourselves.
I mean that.
Chamerlain wasn't the only fool in denial at exactly the wrong time.
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.