what to do when your punch is a dud

Bunker Busters Aimed at Iran


If you plan to bomb a nuclear enrichment facility built deep into a mountain, you need a really big bomb.



Well, last year, the Air Force began taking delivery of the 30,000-lb "Massive Ordnance Penetrator," or MOP, a bomb specifically designed to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. 


Then, after a few months of testing, the Air Force decided it wasn't as effective as they had hoped it would be (but contractor got paid every cent and more for developing the useless bomb), so they asked Congress for $81.6 million (to be shifted from other accounts) to do more work on the bomb so that it could penetrate even deeper. 


The motivation for this request, which hit Congress on Jan. 20, and was approved just 20 days later, on Feb. 9, was the Jan. 9 report from the IAEA that Iran had begun uranium enrichment at the Fordow enrichment plant just outside the holy city of Qom in southeastern Iran.


The Fordow facility is built into a mountain, and has some 90 meters of rock protecting it (the construction of which was probably motivated by six years of American threats to bomb Iran), and is reportedly thought to be the location Iran would use if it decided to actually build a bomb.  


The MOP is six times heavier than the next largest bunker-buster bomb and is reportedly capable of penetrating 200 feet of earth before exploding. If you do the math, you'll see that that's well short of being able to penetrate the mountain protecting the Fordow facility.


Meanwhile, the Iranians are adding to their submarine fleet.



The official IRNA reported, this week, that the Iranian Navy has commissioned two new Ghadir-class midget submarines, adding to the three it acquired last November, bringing the total fleet to 16 to 19 submarines.  


The Ghadir is a domestically built vessel, reportedly based on a North Korean design, that displaces 120 tons. That may not sound like much, but the Ghadirs reportedly are capable of carrying and launching the Shkval rocket-powered torpedo, which has been supplied by Russia.  


They are also reportedly capable of laying mines and carrying naval commandos. The Iranian navy also has three Russian-built Kilo-class diesel electric submarines.


Maybe it's not important that the bomb actually works. Maybe the entire purpose of the bombing of Iran is to have, in the words of Winston Churchill, a "nice little war."


It's wonderful when God, Moses, and Jesus are on our side.