This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5181
February 14, 2012
Casting doubt on the U.S.' ability to destroy/incapacitate even the much less heavily fortified Natanz nuke plant with conventional weapons, "The official said the MOP may be more effective against Iran's main enrichment plant at Natanz but added: 'But even that is guesswork.'" The Pentagon is now engaged in a rush program to upgrade the effectiveness of the 30,000 pound penetrator. Boeing is handling the contracting, but the delivery of the final units aren't scheduled until 2013. The current thinking at DOD is that in order to use only conventional high explosive weapons in any strike on Iran, the exit/entry points on such structures as Fordow would have to be hit directly, thus sealing the facility but not totally demolishing it. Though such a precision strike is certainly within U.S. capabilities, it would require pinpoint targeting which would, in turn, depend on exact GPS coordinates which could best be obtained through precise ground based intelligence, a commodity in very short supply when it comes to Iran. ©2012 PipeLineNews.org. All rights reserved. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=iran2132012103%2Ehtm |
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5181