why don't we just initiate Grazer One... probably do this with ease since the tech has evolved since 1995...

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Fordow Nuclear facility

Is at 33°43'49.27"N 51°43'14.17"E on Google Earth.

Google says that that is Natanz.

Enter "Fordow Nuclear facility" into the search bar on Google Earth and it takes you to Natanz. I don't know if they are separate locations or two names for the same site.

Why endanger operators? You can bet the place can be buttoned up too tight for a team on the ground to penetrate without taking unacceptable losses. One US MOP can penetrate 200’ of rock or reinforced concrete before detonating. I imagine a double tap would pretty much end this facility.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Israel has complete air superiority; simply keep dropping bunker busters until they punch through.

Supposedly, Israel doesn’t have bunker buster bombs nor the planes to deliver such munitions. Between U.S. and them, only the U.S. does.

Seems we (in Sigforum) can't really know. I'd be pretty sure Israel knows how deep those facilities are and how to render them fubar. One thing I learned during my Navy contracting years is that if you don't need to know, you never will, without exception. Security clearances and compartmentalization of programs is effectively locked up, at least from my limited perspective during those years. When I was sent to spaces to work on stuff, the personnel in those spaces closed their doors and yellow strobes were lit and stayed running until I was escorted to the exit after completing the task. And getting all ten fingers and both palms scanned into a security system and my vehicle examined and searched with military dogs, then driving to the skiff, and starting two more levels of authorization and search before entering SCIFs to work on systems. The key to navigating that stuff is to answer all questions as simply as possible, keep your mouth shut, have your paperwork 100% perfect, don't even think about bending the rules, do the damn job, and don't blink until you're off base and back to your hotel. It's impressive how that stuff is handled.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:

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Originally posted by smlsig:

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Originally posted by trapper189:
What did AI have to say?

I tried that this morning and didn’t get a definitive answer. Garbage in, garbage out…

265-290 ft. says AI and it's carved out of bedrock.

Yabba, dabba, doo

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Israel has complete air superiority; simply keep dropping bunker busters until they punch through.

Israel's bombs aren't large enough to do the job.

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Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:

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Originally posted by Gustofer:
Would it not be a better option to send an assault team (or six) in to destroy it from the inside? Blow it up real good and seal all the entrances.

That was "Iron Eagle II", but we don't have the Russians to help us this time. Plus, Louis Gossett, Jr. is dead.

Glad I’m not the only one thinking we’ve already seen this exact scenario played out.



-Rob

If I had fissile material on hand, and it was where my enemy knew it to be, and I wanted to keep it, I would have done moved it to other places by now.

Update

General Jack Keane, in an interview on Fox, says that the Fordow facility is buried half a mile down…

A very interesting assessment of the current situation and well worth the watch.

https://youtu.be/e3ZPeguOODA?si=1urxFQ0i4xIrc35S

Could Israeli C-130s Drop GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Bunker Busters?

B-2s are the only aircraft that can employ MOPs to get at Iran's deepest facilities, but C-130s may be a viable option with a similar weapon.

Tyler Rogoway
Published Jun 18, 2025 7:38 PM EDT

A major unknown we have been discussing for many years is how Israel would go about fully destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities, not just degrading them, without having the ability to penetrate deeply buried sites from the air — the nuclear enrichment facility that sits under a mountain in Fordo, in particular. Without the help of U.S. B-2 Spirits carrying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), a ground operation seemed like nearly the only option. But what about Israel’s humble fleet of roughly 15 KC-130H, C-130H, and C-130J Hercules transports?

The B-2 and the constantly evolving MOP are the only known combo of conventional weapons that could theoretically dig down far enough to blow up the Fordo nuclear site. Even the ability of this to succeed in this mission has been questioned. Exotic ballistic missile and warhead combinations may be an option, but this is totally speculative. Beyond striking tunnel entrances to possibly impair access to the site for a period of time using smaller bunker busters, the B-2s carrying MOPs appear to be the only game in town. Or is it?...

Complete article:

https://www.twz.com/air/could-...rator-bunker-busters

Israel will send in ground teams if it comes to it.

With proper Air Cover, this can be done.

If Fordow is hardened, it is also "defendable".

And Israel has trained for this.

My opinion is all these sites should be taken and inventoried, then destroyed from within, to make them unrealistic to recover and rebuild and force new efforts that should be Hulk Smashed™ while work is in progress.

What about gliding bombs, aimed for the doors? Three or four of those in a row, if they could approach relatively horizontally, would probably be effective.

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Originally posted by c1steve:
What about gliding bombs, aimed for the doors? Three or four of those in a row, if they could approach relatively horizontally, would probably be effective.

Well…In this video General Keanes says Fordow is 300 feet down…

https://youtu.be/YLIC16E3s0k?si=3qe4xMCaJTdWWjya

Still a good listen.

Most reputable think thanks on the issue (ISIS, CSIS, etc) claim 80-90 meters, which translates to about 300 feet. The “half mile” claim is the length of the tunnels.

There’s a good overview here:
https://isis-online.org/isis-r...lant-aka-al-ghadir/8

The lat/long posted above is Natanz, a different facility that probably isn’t quite as deep (only 40-50m). Fordow is at (34.8845000, 50.9981111).

It’s important to remember that a couple of years ago, an Israeli raid captured the entire document archive of Irans nuclear program. Documents that included plans and layout of these facilities. And, they wouldn’t have started this war unilaterally unless they had a plan for destroying these sites themselves.

Commandos are one option. A mixture of cyber and bombing is another. With full plans of the facilities, they can analyze them and pick weak spots in the design. Centrifuges are delicate instruments, you don’t necessarily need a bomb going off in the room to destroy them.