A New Stick to Shake at Iran and North Korea

#1
volfan6782

volfan6782

Pass the eggnog
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Dec 21, 2011
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#1
Pentagon

The Pentagon has spent $330 million to develop and deliver more than 20 of the precision-guided Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker-busters, which are designed to blast through up to 200 feet of concrete.
Although there has previously been a bigger nuclear device, the new conventional rocket is six times the weight of the previous bunker-buster used by the US Air Force, and carries an explosive payload of 5,300 pounds.
US military chiefs openly admitted the weapon was built to attack the fortified nuclear facilities of “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea. Although the Pentagon insists that it is not aimed at a specific threat, unnamed officials within the ministry have repeatedly claimed the bomb is being tailor-made to disable Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, or at least to intimidate Tehran.
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#4
#4
All politics aside, it sounds like an amazing feat of military technology.
 
#5
#5
Only works if they know where to drop it.

How do they test such a weapon? Isn't nuclear weapon testing banned?
 
#6
#6
Velo Vol said:
Only works if they know where to drop it.

How do they test such a weapon? Isn't nuclear weapon testing banned?
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It's a conventional bomb, not nuclear.

I would think the prototypes were tested on a horizontal rocket guiding system into various depths of reinforced concrete. I imagine there was at least one vertical, air-to-ground test on a bunker with 200ft of reinforced concrete.
 
#8
#8
It basically will have the same effect as a low yield small tactical nuke, without having to resort to "nuclear war" to get the same effect. Similar size bombs were used in Vietnam I think for clearing jungle for basing in the middle of nowhere, if I remember correctly.
 
#9
#9
PKT_VOL said:
It's a conventional bomb, not nuclear.

I would think the prototypes were tested on a horizontal rocket guiding system into various depths of reinforced concrete. I imagine there was at least one vertical, air-to-ground test on a bunker with 200ft of reinforced concrete.
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Nevada Test Site.......love this place!
 
#10
#10
#12
#12
I came close to visiting NTS in 2004 but ended up just visiting the New Mexico sites. I would have liked to added that to the trip.
 
#13
#13
PKT_VOL said:
For real. I'd love to spend a day at Groom Lake. I hear the equivalent in VA is pretty awesome as well.
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My previous job I was a radiation safety officer. Ive been to Nts twice.

Amazing place, they bring in the guy who ran nts and area 51 for a brief and a q&a........good times
 
#15
#15
PKT_VOL said:
Sounds like a good time.
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He talked about the nuclear powered spaceship and all sorts of stuff.

Aliens which he slighly grinned and told us it is a good story to my dumb azz asking about the aurora hypersonic jet and we got another sly grin and he told us the f117 was operational in 1977 which technology developed in the late 60s.

He said, think about that for a while.

lol
 
#16
#16
OrangeEmpire said:
He talked about the nuclear powered spaceship and all sorts of stuff.

Aliens which he slighly grinned and told us it is a good story to my dumb azz asking about the aurora hypersonic jet and we got another sly grin and he told us the f117 was operational in 1977 which technology developed in the late 60s.

He said, think about that for a while.

lol
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This has always given me chills. You add an unlimited budget, the smartest minds in the world, the best super computers in the world...for about forty years. We haven't really seen hardly any "new" technology be released. Just tweaks to existing technology.

I heard through the grapevine that the stuff at the Virginia naval base is more impressive than the stuff at Area-51. Given the part in bold above, I find it hard to believe. Although, I want to say I heard somewhere that the director of Skunk Works before he passed away said something to the affect "America will never lose a war. Out in the dessert, we have technology that is fifty years beyond Star Wars." TIFWIW
 
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