US tests bunker-busters for war on Iran?
The Pentagon will test new 'bunker-busting' bombs capable of obliterating underground nuclear production facilities, a report says.
Source: Press TV, 15-09-2008
One of Pentagon's highest-profile projects, according to USA Today, is the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) project.
MOP has developed a precision-guided 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bomb built to deliver 2 tons of explosives after burrowing deep down to reach underground nuclear labs.
An Air Force spokeswoman, Vicki Stein, said the force plans to test the 20-foot-long bomb on
B-52 bombers.
The deepest penetrating bunker buster currently at the disposal of the US Air Force is the Guided Bomb Unit 28 (GBU-28), a 5000-pound (2,270 kilogram) laser-guided bomb, capable of penetrating over 100 feet (30 meters) of earth or 20 feet (6 meters) of solid concrete.
An analyst told the paper that the MOP project appears to be directed at attacking Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.
Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says its nuclear activities are solely directed at generating electricity for its growing population.
The US and Israel, however, have repeatedly threatened to strike nuclear installations in Iran under the pretext that the country seeks nuclear weaponry.
This is while the UN nuclear watchdog, which has extensively monitored Iran's nuclear program since 2003, said in its latest report on Monday that Iran has managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level 'less than 5 percent'.
The rate is consistent with the construction of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear arms production, meanwhile, requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent.
The report comes shortly after the US Defense Department reportedly approved equipping ‘Israel' with 1,000 GBU-39 units - capable of penetrating 6 feet (at least 1.8 meters) of reinforced concrete and more than 3 feet (approximately 1 meter) of steel-reinforced concrete.
According to an Israeli military expert, Yiftah Shapir, hundreds of GBU-39 units 'would have to be used in an attack on Natanz for it to be successful'.
While citing diplomacy as the only acceptable means for clarifying the civilian nature of its nuclear program, Iran has warned that ‘Israel' and 32 US bases in the region will be targeted should the country come under attack.
Source: Press TV, 15-09-2008
One of Pentagon's highest-profile projects, according to USA Today, is the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) project.
MOP has developed a precision-guided 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bomb built to deliver 2 tons of explosives after burrowing deep down to reach underground nuclear labs.
An Air Force spokeswoman, Vicki Stein, said the force plans to test the 20-foot-long bomb on
B-52 bombers.
The deepest penetrating bunker buster currently at the disposal of the US Air Force is the Guided Bomb Unit 28 (GBU-28), a 5000-pound (2,270 kilogram) laser-guided bomb, capable of penetrating over 100 feet (30 meters) of earth or 20 feet (6 meters) of solid concrete.
An analyst told the paper that the MOP project appears to be directed at attacking Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.
Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says its nuclear activities are solely directed at generating electricity for its growing population.
The US and Israel, however, have repeatedly threatened to strike nuclear installations in Iran under the pretext that the country seeks nuclear weaponry.
This is while the UN nuclear watchdog, which has extensively monitored Iran's nuclear program since 2003, said in its latest report on Monday that Iran has managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level 'less than 5 percent'.
The rate is consistent with the construction of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear arms production, meanwhile, requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent.
The report comes shortly after the US Defense Department reportedly approved equipping ‘Israel' with 1,000 GBU-39 units - capable of penetrating 6 feet (at least 1.8 meters) of reinforced concrete and more than 3 feet (approximately 1 meter) of steel-reinforced concrete.
According to an Israeli military expert, Yiftah Shapir, hundreds of GBU-39 units 'would have to be used in an attack on Natanz for it to be successful'.
While citing diplomacy as the only acceptable means for clarifying the civilian nature of its nuclear program, Iran has warned that ‘Israel' and 32 US bases in the region will be targeted should the country come under attack.
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