MOAB is old tech

Submitted by James A. Hafford (Papua New Guinea), Mar 2, 2014 at 07:48

Hi Peter,

The MOAB is old tech and insufficient, even if it were able to be carried by Israeli planes. I'm not an expert, but from my reading, the MOAB is something like 5000 lbs. and is old tech. The latest, most capable bunker buster is the MOP (Massive Ordinance Penetrator), and is 30,000 lbs. (6x heavier).

The MOP can only (i think) be carried by the B2 Stealth Bomber. Israel does not have the B2 Stealth Bomber. Crucially, however, the Israelis had been lacking sufficient refueling capabilities to carry out a long-range mission to Iran. I believe that somewhat recently within the past year (or so), Israel purchased additional refueling tanker planes to enable an attack of this distance. We (the Israelis (I'm American)) also have bases in a country that borders Iran--Azerbaijan I think--and Saudi Arabia has almost certainly granted Israel permission to fly through their airspace, so that will help.

The MOP is perhaps the largest conventional (non-nuclear) weapon and it is very likely capable of pentrating the hardened facilities under Mt. Fordo. Although Israel does not have the MOP, my guess is that they have the capability of setting Iran back significantly by striking the bases with whatever it is that they do have. Keep this is mind also. Israel is the most innovative country in the world, and after Siicon Valley, has the most sophisticated environment for technology in the Silicon Wadi and most recently in the Negev area. So, i wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they have advanced conventional weapons that could take out Iranian nuke facilities, without the use of the MOAB or MOP.

I'm a linguist and not a military analyst so please take my speculations with a grain. Maybe someone who knows more can correct me if my facts are off.

Blessings, and Godspeed to Israel. N. Korea is bad enough to think about, but Iran will be a true nightmare, capable of humbling the USA and taking down every electronic device including the one you are using to read this right now. If a tactical EMP is detonated such that our power grid comes down, the USA will be crippled because of our dependence of information technologies and the electronic platforms they run on.

James

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