Will Israel Receive the New Bunker Buster Bomb?
Will Israel Receive the New Bunker Buster Bomb?.
In the framework of the defense cooperation expansion signed by President Obama over the weekend, Israel is expected to acquire additional armaments from the US. All that remains to be seen is if this will include the new “Bunker Busters” revealed last week
The US has recently introduced a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb into operational use, designated GBU-57B, which is intended to penetrate heavily fortified targets. Thus far, eight bombs have been acquired and another eight are expected to be ready for use by the start of 2013.
It seems that the bomb is primarily intended for Iran’s nuclear facilities. Experts who analyzed the bomb’s details based on open sources say that it is intended to be installed onboard the B-2 strategic stealth bomber.
According to foreign publications, any such aircraft can carry two such bombs, each weighing more than 13 tons. Most of the weigh belongs to the bomb’s steel encasing, and it contains approximately 2.2 tons of explosives.
The experts assess that the bomb’s breaching capability stands at approximately 60 meters of reinforced concrete. It is clear from these characteristics that the motivation for the development of this unique armament is the need to penetrate a limited number of “hard” targets. The timing of the publication and additional considerations direct the spotlight towards Iran’s subterranean nuclear facilities.
According to the experts, the bomb’s length is 6.25 meters, and its diameter is 800 mm. When dropped from a height of 40,000 feet, it hits the target at a velocity of approximately 450 meters per second, adding to its initial breaching capability prior to the detonation of the explosives.
The bomb is guided by the use of a GPS receiver integrated with data from an inertial navigation platform. According to the experts, this guidance system provides the bomb an accuracy CEP of 5 meters. The large fuse at the frontal part of the bomb is intended to withstand the shock of the impact. The experts assess that the bomb’s flight range from the point it is dropped and until reaching the target is approximately 50 kilometers. The primary assessment is that the bomb’s exposure is intended to deter Iran, and that it was developed specifically in order to breach Iran’s subterranean nuclear facilities, if and when the US decides to attack them.
WarSclerotic 
July 29, 2012 at 2:58 PM
The new bunker buster is an insurance policy to Israel, if sanctions and diplomacy fail then even the deepest of their underground facilites can be destroyed. Well thats what the pentagon are saying, the question is if the president has the balls to order such an attack.
July 29, 2012 at 6:56 PM
Hmmm…. They need the RBB. The “Really Big Bomb”.
Better yet, too bad Project Thor is unavailable. What is needed is non-explosive conventional kinetic weapons with the energy release of a tactical nuke and can penetrate almost 100 meters. Less than 5 minutes from de-orbit to impact, and they’ll never see it coming. Just the sudden appearance of a really big hole in the ground. This is the ideal peacekeeping weapons system.
July 30, 2012 at 4:34 AM
What is that “Really Big Bomb”?
January 26, 2013 at 7:11 PM
that is a beautiful scientific idea. but shooting from orbit is not so easy to do in practice with sufficient accuracy , but it is reasonable to shoot such weapons from space that needs to carry it with special expensive airplane , and kinetic weapons also needs control over target by GPS and …that all can be jammed . another problem is weight . carry a payload of tones of heavy metals is a big project , so designer prefer to shoot it with solid propellant engine at reasonable altitude.
although most of them dont say about the flaws they talk about advantages to show they are intelligent enough to overcome everything
look at the document i recommended
bunker buster is amazing doll like many other technologies around but in a different view there are many laws to defeat them all and there are also passive methods that makes air strikes inefficient in different ways as below:
-Bomb fuses path deflection to increase failure rate and stop direct penetration
-Bomb capture (spider mesh technique)
-Electronic warfare technique (jamming, faraday cage…)
-Anti aircraft mine (aerial balloon bombs)
-Improvised shelter (UHPC & multi-layer bunkers containing materials with different density)
read more here:
July 29, 2012 at 7:07 PM
The israeli plans and drills for this long awaited action are already in place and a solution was found without those last minute super bombs. Anyway, we will witness a change in the iranian landscape.
July 30, 2012 at 4:32 AM
What is that?