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New U.S. 'global strike' plan set for possible 'sovereign options' against Iran

U.S. military sources said the Pentagon has vastly increased its capabilities for conducting a major military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and other targets in Iran since 2001.

The upgraded capabilities are part a new “prompt global strike” plan and include the conversion of B-2 bombers to permit them to carry up to 80 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs; and the recent conversion of four Trident nuclear missile submarines into conventionally-armed cruise missile shooters, each carrying 150 submarine-launched cruise missiles. The submarines alone provide commanders with enough firepower to attack 600 aim points or targets with multiple missile salvos.

B-2 stealth bomber.

Additionally, Aegis cruisers have been upgraded and the first F-22 advanced fighter bombers have been deployed. The F-22’s electronics make possible sophisticated information operations capabilities.

The military also have fielded a new 15-ton deep penetrating bomb that is designed to attacks deeply buried targets, like Iran’s nuclear facilities, many of which have been built in hardened bunkers. The B-2 can carry two of the new bombs and B-52 also can be outfitted with the penetrator.

Additionally, the military is developing a conventionally armed precision guided intercontinental ballistic missile that could be used against Iran.

The Air Force mission statement alludes to this new global strike capability in referring to the capability to “deliver sovereign options.”

“Our task is to provide the president, the combatant commanders, and our nation with an array of options … options that are not limited by the tyranny of distance, the urgency of time, or the strength of our enemy’s defenses,” the statement said. “With one hand the Air Force can deliver humanitarian assistance to the farthest reaches of the globe, while with the other hand we can destroy a target anywhere in the world. This is the meaning of sovereign options and the essence of being a superpower.”

Other officials said the reference to “sovereign options” includes preemptive strikes, global attacks and other strategic options.

One U.S. military officer said the window of opportunity to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities is closing fast and that after the fall of 2007 Iran’s capability to retaliate will increase as the 2008 presidential election season begins by the start of next year.

“Many underestimate the modernization programs undertaken in the last several years related to U.S. global strike capabilities,” the officer said. “We have near quadrupled the number aim points we can strike with the same platforms we had prior to 9/11.”

U.S. intelligence on Iran is much better than on Iraq.

At least 23 different Iranian nuclear facilities have been identified by the U.S. government, including the Natanz facility where most of the secret uranium enrichment work is being done.

Any U.S. military strike against Iran likely would include a terrorist-proxy response from Tehran, using Hizbullah and other Iranian paramilitary forces.

Airborne laser for first time successfully targets another aircraft in test

The Pentagon’s new airborne laser anti-missile system passed a key milestone in development last week when a laser-equipped Boeing 747 fired a low-powered laser to detect, tracked and engage a target aircraft.

The low-powered laser eventually will be replaced with a high-powered laser capable of knocking down missiles or aircraft in flight.

The test Aug. 31 involved the Airborne Laser hitting a NC-135 aircraft with a missile painted on its side as an aimpoint.

“This is the first time in history an airborne directed-energy platform has successfully engaged a non-cooperative airborne target at significant ranges,” the MDA said in a statement. “The prototype ABL aircraft completed 48 flight test missions, firing its on-board lasers more than 200 times.”

High powered Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser tests are set to begin in late 2008 aboard the jet. “The high-power laser will have the ability to destroy a ballistic missile in its boost phase — the first few minutes of flight — when it is highly vulnerable to the directed energy beam ABL will deliver,” the statement said. “The ABL will be the first combat aircraft relying entirely upon a directed energy device as a weapon.”