All Posts Tagged With: "Israeli"
Israel Gets 1,000 Bunker Buster Bombs from U. S.
In a “Depends” moment for Iran the U. S. has sold 1,000 bunker-busting smart bombs to Israel.
The sale is reported to include: 1,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB1), 150 BRU-61/A SDB1 Mounting Carriages, 30 Guided Test Vehicles, 2 BRU-61/A SDB Instrumented Carriages, 7 Jettison Test Vehicles, 1 Separation Test Vehicle, 2 Reliability and Assessment Vehicles, 12 Common Munitions BIT and Reprogramming Equipment with Test Equipment and Adapters, 3 SDB1 Weapons Simulators, and 2 Load Crew Trainers. He sale also includes containers, flight test integration, spare and repair parts, support equipment, personnel training and equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support.
The GBU-28, is a laser-guided weapon whose warhead can burrow through more than 20 feet of reinforced concrete and up to 100 feet of dirt and rock striking within a few feet of its aim point. The Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) is a special weapon developed for penetrating hardened site located deep underground.
The GBU-28
is a 5,000-pound laser-guided conventional munition that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead. The bombs are modified Army artillery tubes, weigh 4,637 pounds, and contain 630 pounds of high explosives. Once the gadget has penetrated the target does it detonate with devastating effect.
- Each device consists of an approximately 16-foot (5-meter) section of artillery barrel that is 14.5 inches (37 cm) in diameter. Artillery barrels are made of extremely strong hardened steel so that they can withstand the repeated blasts of artillery shells when they are fired.
- Inside this steel casing is nearly 650 pounds (295 kg) of tritonal explosive. Tritonal is a mixture of TNT (80 percent) and aluminum powder (20 percent). The aluminum improves the brisance of the TNT — the speed at which the explosive develops its maximum pressure. The addition of aluminum makes tritonal about 18 percent more powerful than TNT alone.
- Attached to the front of the barrel is a laser-guidance assembly. Either a spotter on the ground or in the bomber illuminates the target with a laser, and the bomb homes in on the illuminated spot. The guidance assembly steers the bomb with fins that are part of the assembly.
- Attached to the end of the barrel are stationary fins that provide stability during flight.
- The finished bomb, known as the GBU-28 or the BLU-113, is 19 feet (5.8 meters) long, 14.5 inches (36.8 cm) in diameter and weighs 4,400 pounds (1,996 kg).
Five or six nuclear bombs’ worth of uranium missing.
Iran convinced it can bamboozle an Obama - Biden administration until it is too late.
Nuclear watchdog experts have discovered 50-60 tons of uranium is missing from Iran’s main nuclear production facility at Isfahan. Once finish refined that is enough to produce five or six nuclear bombs, The disappearance was discovered at the final stage of the production process, where UF6 (Uranium Hexafluoride), uranium in gas form is stored, by the only Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Iran allowed the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Administration) to install at Isfahan.
US satellites have also identified a number of suspicious sites, not declared by Iran to UN inspectors.
Some of the “secret” sites are located in populated areas including suburban Tehran amid dense civilian populations thereby providing human shields against air attacks, and increasing the risk of radioactive contamination of civilians in the area.
The Isfahan UF6 is likely at 4-5% uranium U235 concentration and 90% is required for fissile bomb grade use capable of initiating a sustained chain reaction and high order nuclear detonation.
Israeli remains resolute it will not permit Iran to arm itself or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons. Iran outwardly is non-plus over an Isaeli attack on its nuclear bomb plants, persuaded the U. S. will not attack, and convinced it can bamboozle an Obama - Biden administration until it is too late. It dislikes recent developments in the U. S. that shows McCain-Palin surging.
Israeli Icon Says Obama “is definitely a big concern for me.”
If this [Iranian] regime becomes nuclear, that we (Israel) will have to act because for us that is a question for the survival of our Jewish civilization
Natan Sharansky, former Soviet dissident who spent more than a decade in the communist Gulag now an Israeli citizen told Newsmax. com editor Ruddy “It is very alarming for me the way Senator Obama voted, the way he spoke about his desire to negotiate with Ahmadinejad, and the way some of his advisers think.” Sharansky a former Knesset member and deputy prime minister also told Ruddy,” if this [Iranian] regime becomes nuclear, that we (Israel) will have to act because for us that is a question for the survival of our Jewish civilization.” Sharansky’s comments carry great weight here and for policy-makers in the West. Though he resigned from the Knesset as a stalwart Likud backer in 2006, he has remained active in the political debate.
Sharansky is dubious of Obama saying, “He is definitely a big concern for me. Reflecting how many others feel he said Obama has “a little record or almost no record, while the one who he is competing with is McCain, and we know for sure his principles.” Natan also said “If Iran will not change, Israel will have to act. I think it will be very tragic if Israel has to act alone.”
The survival of the West depends on democracy, Sharansky argues. In his best-selling book, “The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror.” Sharansky believes democracy does not mean unlimited freedom overnight, especially for states that have no history of democratic institutions (such as Iraq. Instead, he argues for the gradual development of democratic institutions which takes time and patience.
Looking out at the world, he says “our enemies look so dangerous because they have a strong will.” This means they have beliefs they are ready to die for. “The free world, if it does not have values for which people are ready to die, will be powerless, its people decadent. It will be doomed to failure.”
Saransky laments weakened faith and patriotism in Europe and elsewhere. When describing Europe Sharansky paraphrases, John Lenons song “Imagine”as a place where there is no hell and no paradise, no borders, no nations, in a world where there is nothing to die for. He calls Europe a tragedy, but he says of America, “in general, its society is still healthy” underscoring the need for stalwart leadership.
His argument is “if you don’t stand for something- you’ll fall for anything.”
Israeli Must Attack Iran Given UN Failure and US Coming Impotence
An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks “unavoidable” given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential, one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s deputies said on Friday. says a Reter’s report. In addition a US Presidency of an inexperienced Barack Obama could encourage Iran resulting in the US being paralyzed long enough to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon thereby neutralizing the US, Israel and Europe to respond.
“If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective,” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. “Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable,” said the former army chief who has also been defense minister.
It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of Olmert’s government, which, like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at force as a last resort should U.N. Security Council sanctions be deemed a dead end. Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, has defied Western pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment projects. The leadership in Tehran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel — believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal — and U.S. targets in the Gulf for any attack on Iranian turf.
Mofaz also said in the interview that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, “would disappear before Israel does.” Mofaz’s remarks came as he and several other senior members of Olmert’s Kadima Party prepare for a possible run for top office should a corruption scandal force the Israeli prime minister to step down.
Iranian-born Mofaz has been a main party rival of the Israeli prime minister, particularly following the 2006 elections when Olmert was forced to hand the defense portfolio to Labor, his main coalition partner, at Mofaz’s expense. Mofaz, who is also designated as a deputy prime minister, has remained privy to Israel’s defense planning. He is a member of Olmert’s security cabinet and leads regular strategic coordination talks with the U.S. State Department.
Israel sent warplanes to destroy Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981.
A similar Israeli sortie over Syria last September razed what the U.S. administration said was a nascent nuclear reactor built with North Korean help. Syria denied having any such facility.
Independent analysts have questioned, however, whether Israel’s armed forces can take on Iran alone, as its nuclear sites are numerous, distant and well-fortified.
That likely means Israel will appeal to the US for support before the US administration changes, ie., the THANKSGIVING SCENARIO. Israeli is convinced if Iran has nuclear wepons it will use them to destroy Israel. It is a mortal issue for Israel.