Precision-guided bunker busters fly slowly but carry massive warheads wrapped in thick armour. Small nations without air power watch helplessly as bombs fall.
When US B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s nuclear sites with GBU-57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) bunker busters on June 22, there was reportedly little resistance.
Chinese researchers have offered a countermeasure: strike the weak flank. Although the bomb’s nose armour is thick, its steel sides are thin and measure just a few centimetres, meaning one or two anti-aircraft shells could crack it open.
Low-cost anti-aircraft guns can be deployed around key sites. But the guns must survive, radar must track and electronic warfare must be countered.
Instead of China’s own weapon, the computer simulation used Swiss Oerlikon GDF guns which are widely fielded in the Middle East, including Iran.
The GDF fires 36 shells in two seconds. At 1,200 metres (0.7 miles), the kill probability hits 42 per cent.
