Monday, October 29, 2007

US Upgrading Diego Garcia Facilities

The British paper The Herald reported today that the US is upgrading B1 Spirit stealth bomber hangars on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The B1 stealth bombers were in the news lately after the White House sent an “urgent operational need” request to Congress to fit racks on the long-range aircraft allowing them to carry 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs, known as Big Blue, designed to smash underground bunkers buried as much as 200ft beneath the surface through reinforced concrete, as the underground facilities at Natanz uranium enrichment plant in Iran. The new Big Blu bomb is 20ft long, weighs 30,000lb and carries 6000lb of high explosives.

Iran analysts believe that the preparation for a US military attack on Iran is now at an operational planning phase, making the likelihood of the attack very high. The Pentagon is reportedly drawing up plans for a range of attacks on Iran, including bombardment of nuclear facilities, air bases and radar facilities, and IRGC targets.

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