BUNKER-BUSTERS: big, designed to take out hardened targets. First designed by Barnes Wallis, the 22,000lb Grand Slam proved to be just the thing to take out Hitler's U-boat pens, the Tirpitz, and various viaducts.
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| — the MOP — |
With the advent of various clandestine WMD projects by countries like Iran and Iraq, the USAF has developed their latest version of the Wallis weapon, now known as the MOP: Massive Ordnance Penetrator.
Critics wonder if the Iranian centrifuge sites may be too hardened, even for the MOP, but as 617 Squadron found with the Grand Slams, more damage could be done by close misses. The 12,000 lb Tallboys and the 22,000 lb Grand Slam would get through the U-boat pen roofs and cause considerable damage, but it was a Grand Slam that was some 50 yards off that killed the whole U-boat pen. Dropped from about 12,000 feet, it went about 120 feet into the earth beside the U-boat pen and exploded. The seismic pressure lifted the whole U-boat pen about 2 feet — then dropped it.
A B-2 drop would be from about 30,000 feet, so the terminal velocity could be way higher than the 617 Lancasters' Grand Slams.
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| — the Grand Slam — |
Maybe they might sell
a few to the Israelis? It's probably PAVE-GPS capable, so just dump one of 'em out the
ass of an IAF trash hauler at 30,000 feet and the PAVE system'll take it in. The
IAF does have Wild Weasel capability, so they could suppress any
high-altitude SAM capability and their F-15's will take care of any
aircraft the Iranians could try to operate.
