Can Iran Stop U.S. Bunker Buster Bombs?

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Bunker Buster bombs like the GBU-57 or Massive Ordnance Penetrator are "the" way that the US can reach the hardened bunkers of its adversaries be that underground or in cave networks. However, concrete technology has come on a long in recent decades and now poses the possibility that even the biggest bunker buster might not work without going nuclear.
So in this video, we look at how you can punch through 6 meters of hardened concrete and can they ever be stopped.
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Written, researched and presented by Paul Shillito
Images and footage : US DoD, USAF, ExpeditionWorkshed
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[@Totalinternalreflection]

I just can't get my head around how somthing can go through 20ft of reinforced concrete and come out intact and go through more floors/walls after that before deciding when to detonate. It just does not compute in my mind. Fascinating but my brain is just like "404 Error"

[@AluminumOxide]

The power of high density steel or tungsten pointed projectiles and kinetic energy

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Weirdly for me my brain can't compute it the other way around

[@captiannemo1587]

It can only do that if it has the proper void sensing fuses. Which the MOP did not have at its start. Plus a void sensor only is useful if you know the layering of the bunkers design.

[@jeremyj5893]

the fuses used had a delay that only started "counting down" after the bomb impacted the target, and the penetrator bombs were incredibly thick in the nose. add to that the cylindrical shape and high velocity..... boom

[@RCAvhstape]

The fact that the fusing mechanism can withstand all that and still function has always amazed me. The earliest proximity fuses for antiaircraft shells used vacuum tube tech and had to survive the shock of firing and spinning, and that was in the 1940s, which amazes me.

[@scumbaag]

As a construction guy, these bombs have always blown my mind. People underestimate just how insane that level of penetration is through reinforced concrete.

[@tak2malay24]

200ft

[@dwwolf4636]

Sofar. Recent advances in concrete engineering might require actual nukes to get anywhere.

[@badmonkey2222]

​@@dwwolf4636uhm no ....

[@paromanin]

Is it 7873 insanes?

[@n3v3rforgott3n9]

@@dwwolf4636 Like he said at the end you would just destroy the exits and equipment that has to be exposed to work.

[@CountryDick]

I’d like to see a bunker buster try to get through my grandmother’s Christmas fruit cake.

[@mechanicallycreative9788]

God I hate that crap.

[@PrimoPete]

Unironically enough, there might be tech in the future with weird and far softer consistency than concrete, that probably would stop these bunker busters.

[@Chet73]

😂😂😂😂 Nice comment

[@steveperreira5850]

The military won’t do a real test like that!

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@andrewpearson3598]

Thank you Paul, another absolutely fantastic video. This guy has taught me so much in the last few years. A very educational and well put together piece as always.

[@abhishekpulakala9873]

X

[@Conserpov]

Propaganda is "educational" and it "taught" you? Only in 'merica 😆

[@1977Yakko]

The battle between a better shield vs a better spear has been going on since the start of warfare. The concept is little changed but the technology described is pretty amazing on both ends.

[@aliedil5415]

Hopefully one day we will see Iranians playing with their spear on the american soil 👍🏻

[@1977Yakko]

@@aliedil5415 Not even including police and military, there's about 100 million Americans who are armed. So, that might not go so well for any invader. Besides, the biggest threat to American prosperity isn't Iran or any other foreign threat but our bought and paid for politicians.

[@aliedil5415]

@@1977Yakko man you ain't doing shit with your guns, you have a senile old man as president, where you guys at? You don't mind him as your leader?

[@1977Yakko]

@@aliedil5415 Every day we stay armed is an act of defiance against Biden and Co. desire to disarm us. Make no mistake, they would if they could. Also, taking on the U.S. govt in an armed manner is impossible for any individual or small group to be successful at. While we are a nation of millions of gun owners, we are a nation of millions of INDIVIDUAL gun owners. The U.S. govt is very well equipped to preserve itself as essentially EVERY govt agency is militarized. Their surveillance and cyber monitoring capabilities is downright Orwellian at this point. That is our fault for letting it happen I admit.

[@sierraecho884]

​@@1977Yakko Which makes the 2nd amendment so dangerous to the US itself. You don´t have to invade the country, which would in turn unite most Americans against an external threat, you simply have to divide the general public enough through say social media to a point where a civil war starts. Don´t get me wrong I believe every person should indeed have a right to bear arms however every medal has two sides.

[@marqvanpopering9873]

25 years ago, I was working in Rodgers Hollow, Kentucky, testing concrete for tests like these. The holes they blew were dumbfounding. I wasn't allowed to see the tests, just the wet concrete and the aftermath. Some blasts heaved the concrete to rubble, while others were almost drill-like.

[@daltanionwaves]

Drill-like... Fascinating. I am endlessly entertained watching solid things liquify or exhibit fluid dynamics behaviors instead of acting like rigid bodies under normal conditions. For the purposes our brains evolved for, it might as well be magic.

[@kingsman3087]

US invades iran,the US aircraft would fall out the sky like rain

[@angusmatheson8906]

@@kingsman3087 lolwut. US did invade Iraq. Twice, and both times the US lost only a handful of air assets. [EDIT] Deltaionwaves edited his comment to Iran, it originally said Iraq. I'm addition, I DO NOT SUPPORT WAR WITH IRAN. However, I am 100% confident that we're such an awful thing to happen that the air war would be over in a few weeks. US doctrine on this is incredibly OP but very very expensive.

[@GARDENER42]

Boron fibre reinforced concrete is "interesting" stuff when it comes to breaking it up with explosives. Definitely not something for the budget minded to contemplate...

[@TheChipmunk2008]

@@angusmatheson8906 lmfao.AMERICAN fails spelling 101, go back to school

[@SemGabelko]

Basically a millennia long battle between Civil engineers and mechanical engineers. They must hate each other so hard 😂😂

[@nickmail7604]

Reinforced concrete structures are now often built in layers with other "laminate" materials in between the layers not unlike how Chobham and Dorchester tank armour is constructed. Some of the "laminate" layers are now fairly high tech polymers that are designed to remove the kinetic energy from "bunker busting" projectiles and when taken as a whole are now extremely effective at stopping penetrative projectiles.

[@Cameron655]

Huh. My grandfather flew Lancaster missions against the V2 pens in northern France. I have no idea if they were Tallboy or Grand Slam. All I know is that he didn't make it back alive. All I can hope is "cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of war" was written across the sky. He's in Abbeville and I really should go there someday. RIP Bob.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

he dropped Tallboys, the Grand Slams were used against U-boat pens and the Tirpitz… may he RIP

[@shawntailor5485]

Those Lancaster's were giant flying mass graves, god bless the boys aboard em.

[@andresmc210]

He died for our freedom. Forever grateful.

[@stijnvandamme76]

@@bostonrailfan2427 they dropped tall boys on the V2 facilities called Blockhaus (Eperleques) and la Coupolle (Wizernes) I've seen the dents in that roof first hand The Grand Slams were only ready in march 45, by then North of France was already in Allied hands. Tirpits had already been sunk by then, by Tallboys , not Grand Slams the Grand Slams were really only used a few times as the GS's were only ready in the final 50 days of the War in Europe 14 March Bielefeld viaduct 15 March Arnsberg viaduct 19 March Bielefeld viaduct again 21 march double-tracked railway bridge at Arbergen 22 march railway bridge at Nienburg 23 march Another railway Bridge near Bremen 27 march Valentin submarine pens 9th of April Finkenwerder U-boat pens in Hamburg 19th april coastal gun-batteries on the islands of Heligoland and Düne

[@cooperised]

@@shawntailor5485 I realise now how lucky I was to have met my grandfather, who spent the last couple of years of the war as a rear gunner on Lancasters. Not a seat I'd like to sit in.

[@dziban303]

Techno Varys returns

[@draco_2727]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@truvc]

You win the comments 😂

[@kza691]

🤣

[@slingshot99]

😂😂😂

[@afrog2666]

Techno Varys 😂 Someone get this man a kimono! Or was that Bob from Demolition Man?

[@Comm0ut]

For nations with enough money for serious bunkers a couple of tunnel boring machines (and storage area for the removed spoil) could permit tunneling out making exits not visible from space until they penetrate the surface. Exits could be pre-tunneled leaving sufficiently thick protective caps.

[@glitter_fart]

you ever seen a nuke powered laser boring machine ?

[@AManOfShadows]

With satellites they can use I think radar or LIDAR to find tunnels. The us govt has done this over the korean dmz

[@carwashadvertising]

Excellent video you do a very good job of providing pictures depicting what you were talking about

[@jeremyj5893]

I was in the USAF as a munitions systems technician when the GBU-28 first came out.. didn't see too many of them as they were initially nearly built to order. Additionally, I was stationed in Kuwait after Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2001 and we stored our munitions in the Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) that we had previously blown up with bunker busters.. We initially used the GBU-24 with the BLU-109 (2k lb penetrator) warhead but found out the French cheaped out when they built the HAS and instead of using 12 ft of reinforced concrete, they used a sandwich of 4 ft concrete either side of sand.. our penetrators went right through. I have re-enlistment photos in front of these blown up shelters

[@infinitecanadian]

Thanks for serving!

[@superstripes7646]

I also was there at that time....different job but same time....and side note Kuwait sued the French for the destruction we did to the bunkers!

[@Davethreshold]

Thank you for your service!! ❤🤍💙

[@rainyvideos3684]

So your saying the best defense is to have the concrete be thinner?

[@AFlyingCookieLOL]

Where are the WMDs or is it another US invasion lie?

[@FirstDagger]

Your high quality, well researched military documentary style videos really set your channel apart from other more "popular" oriented channels.

[@AluminumOxide]

especially considering the fact that many details are classified.

[@ChristofferLund]

@@AluminumOxide classified as Fucking Awesome

[@batman_2004]

@@AluminumOxide classified my ass. 🤣

[@machevellian79]

Nah America has lost every war this millennium, just an all talk mercenary army who cant even keep their schoolkids safe.

[@churblefurbles]

@@batman_2004 Yea its not classified, its just obsolete as the proven bad faith of the current regime ensures proliferation, no expense spared.

[@imomedvidek]

this was first video of yours that I watched. Enjoyed it thoroughly, host has this "grandpa telling a story" voice, that I could listen to for hours.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Thanks for the amazing info and great job on presenting it, Paul! I hope your treatment goes well and that your recover from your illness quickly. ❤️

[@AluminumOxide]

Bunker busters are pretty much like giant nails being punched from a nail gun. It’s kinda weird that when you focus a lot of kinetic energy on such a small point and with such a dense bullet-shaped projectile, solid earth simply doesn’t behave like solid, but liquid. It just gets shoved out of the way like sand.

[@aculleon2901]

Same is true for unexploded bombs for example. Turns out bombs, when they don't explode, glide in an parabola shaped trajectory trough the ground and come back up again. A least when the ground is in a certain condition.

[@inthefade]

It makes me think how arrows punch through sand bags without losing lethal velocity even though most bullets will simply lose all their kinetic energy immediately.

[@signalworks]

@@inthefade terminal ballistics is a real involved field, usually bullets are designed to not overpenetrate, and instead yaw or deform, in order to deliver maximum energy into the target

[@memesfromdeepspace1075]

Gun

[@thebaumfaeller1477]

@@aculleon2901 Maybe interesting. Those cases are an important reason for quite a few unexploded bombs that are still found in germany since the time delayed fuses some bombs had did not work if the bomb sits tip up so they burried themself and then just remained there to be found in new construction projects over the decades.

[@cascadianrangers728]

The idea to re use old 8" gun barrels was genius

[@kindlin]

I got the impression they were relatively new, maybe fresh off the belt, and the military probably cleared them out of their entire stock.

[@dgthe3]

Cascadian Rangers 8", not 18". You can just barely manage to get a self propelled 8" artillery piece. For an 18", you'll be needing a railway carriage. kindlin No, they were old. The 8" howitzer was mainly intended for counter-battery fire (taking out other artillery pieces). But in the 1980s, MLRS came around & could do that job far better. So the 8" guns were getting phased out right at the start of the Gulf War.

[@cascadianrangers728]

@@dgthe3 whoops, thanks for catching typo, yeah they weren't using Yamato barrels lol

[@mickeyfilmer5551]

I must say Paul, without exception ALL of your videos are really interesting and informative -thank you , I wish I was in a position to support you on patreon as yor content is right up this OAP's street .

[@Conserpov]

This is propaganda, not information.

[@jamesharris184]

So well done thank you for taking the time

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Fascinating video, I had no idea Concrete had developed so much

[@elslick]

Oh yeah. Practical engineering had some kick ass videos on concrete advancement. Has defintly come a long long way in the past decade.

[@David-yo5ws]

What's glaringly obvious though, is the complete absence of $'s. We have earthquake's all the time in New Zealand, but you will more likely see a building with a 'base isolator' (Thick rubber pads incorporated in the foundation) than stainless steel fibre in smoother cement mix, with additives. I wonder why they don't have bunker bombs made like concrete drills and spin them at high speed to 'carve' their way in?

[@sierraecho884]

Because you only think of yourself! xD

[@sierraecho884]

@@David-yo5ws Because this speed will not be anywhere fast enough. It´s also not the speed but the hammering effect which drills holes into concrete. Which is prevented by the fibers in the first place.

[@acorgiwithacrown467]

Supposedly the GBU-28 was put into testing so quickly that the first prototype was still hot from pouring the explosives when it was being tested the first time.

[@tommyrq180]

True. It’s called tritonal. TNT plus aluminum powder. It’s melted into a molten substance to load into aerial bombs.

[@foracal5608]

Supposedly as the "info"* goes it was warm when the plane dropped it

[@markusstewart9298]

@@foracal5608 well Snoop Dogg sure dropped it like it was hot 😬

[@omahanprabla3058]

Wat

[@fh5926]

I remember that. IIRC it was a Lockheed project.

[@scottbattaglia8595]

I hope you are doing well, I'm sure no one remembers your surgery about a year ago. Just wanted to say still making videos hopefully that means everything is going well and the tests have been clean, and just wanted to send my wishes and prayers, hope your doing great!

[@MatthewW713]

Great video as usual, very interesting. Thanks for the video!

[@SethBondArtist]

Fascinating, as always. Thank you Paul for doing all the hard work to bring us these wonderful presentations.

[@Gronicle1]

Thanks for the informative video. Well done. I have been retired for some time now and was not up to speed on the advances in hardened alloys, and hybrid concrete. Your remarks about closing the entrances and exits actually represent a highly rated solution for some potential target sets in the late 1970s. Bombs were tested and as well as some other means of a touchy-feelies-nature.

[@keithtynan7469]

Very professional presentation! Excellent video - your production is great!

[@h069401]

Another fascinating post. Interesting and informative. Thanks

[@jantschierschky3461]

Well researched video, I visited a number of bunkers hit by tallboy and grandslam, in Germany, France. What was clear success was based on concrete being fresh and not cured yet eg Valentin. When mature concrete took damage, but was not penetrated. In the beginning of WW2 Germany faced the Belgium Fort of Aubin-Neufchâteau. That fort was used to test Röchling shells, long steel darts fired from artillery. Those penetrated quite deep, number of Slovakian bunkers where tested on and you can see those projectiles sticking in those walls penetrated about 50-80cm. Luftwaffe used so called luft torpedoes against bunkers, pill boxes and forced belgium and french garrisons to surrender or abandon those, later same during Barbarossa. caused big problems

[@lolstfurofl]

Recently saw a video from Tino Struckman on this topic. Mind blowing they got the technology to penetrate 40m of solid ground and afterwards penetrating a steel concrete ceiling. They even had a HE warhead fitted with a fuze able to detect cavities so the projectile explodes right in the tunnel. Really baffled me the germans had such technology in use 1942.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

I love the Germans.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

@@lolstfurofl We were way more advanced in the 1940s than most people know. Technological advancement has been deliberately hidden from the public for decades.

[@Appplethefruit]

@@huwhitecavebeast1972 do you mean the present day Germans or the ones back in WWII? These aren’t the same.

[@russcattell955i]

From film evidence Tallboy & Grand Slam were not bunker busters, though they performed well, were bunker disruptors. Earthquake bombs that rendered bunkers (and any other target) unusable. Subsiding, cutting services, blocking entry / exit.

[@abursh]

I've literally never thought about any of this, and I never knew I'd be interested in it, but it was fascinating. Thanks for spending your time on it

[@bogdanspineanu]

Fantastic stuff as always !

[@Borsuk3344]

Thank you for the analysis Varys!

[@timp2751]

Interesting how people somehow didn't think to use fibres in concrete until relatively recently given the centuries old practice of using fibres in mortars to the same effect! (Eg horse hair in lime plasters/mortars)

[@sierraecho884]

Why do you think is that the case ? Don´t confuse you not knowing how they do things witch them not doing the things.

[@minhducnguyen9276]

Mixing fibers change the consistency of wet concrete, making harder to mix and pour. You don't just simply pour a bucket of glass/steel fiber into the concrete mixer and expect it to works. Just like every technology, it takes time to get perfected. Especially when fibers reinforced concrete serves a very niche role there isn't much incentives to innovate it until WW2 when bunker busting weapons evolved.

[@Bartooc]

People were putting asbestos fibers to concrete over 100 years ago how is that a recent discovery??

[@johno1544]

I think this is also been a issue with super deep bunkers 1000 + feet down. Just take out the entrance and exit and any communications seems to be the best strategy. Really makes emergency exits that are well hidden a must when designing even super deep bases and bunkers

[@brianhirt5027]

Most large bunkers buried that deep have a means to dig out via excavator. At least when we were worried about nuclear exchanges that was fairly standard protocol. We knew the nukes would make a mess of the topside, and we'd have to dig ourselves out. Here in the states they were these huge borer machines, like we use to carve out subway tunnels. I'm to understand the Russians had a similar device, but I don't know specifics.

[@johno1544]

@@brianhirt5027 That makes sense especially for larger complexes like Russia's Yamantau mountain. Nobody in the west is sure how big it is but it's long been considered a nuclear weapons sink that would required a large number of repeated nuclear hits to have any chance to take out.

[@richardcampbell2438]

@@johno1544 Layered defence requires layered attack . Drop a number of the deepest penetrating bunker busters in the ground just outside of the bunker, one after another into the same crater until the crater was ~1-2,000 feet deep. Then gently parachute drop a hardened reenforced of 10-20MT H-bomb flat side town into the crater with a long delay fuse. I'm thinking a 5 ton half turtle shell of sandwiched uranium/tungsten/titanium over the device to shape the initial wave of ignition downwards. I would extend the shell all around the device, but thinly on the slightly rounded bottom. Bonus: the U of the shell will add additional fissile oomph to the device Next drop a number of smaller guided munitions to cause the sides of the main crater to collapse in over and deeply cover the reenforced H-bomb protected under its shaped charged shell. 20 minutes later when the big one goes off, the shock waves will also propagate strongly laterally and rupture the side of the main bunker and any structure remaining might well collapse into the gigantic new crater formed. Badda bing, badda boom.

[@brianhirt5027]

@@johno1544 Right, and we have Cheyenne Mountain & Greenbrier complexes. The other reason to have the borers was in case we needed to expand the complex in case of a total nuclear exchange. We had everything to set up underground agriculture, living spaces, et al. I'd imagine Ivan had something similar. But regardless, your strategy doesn't really work when you're talking about any sort of military grade C3 bunker. It'd only work against smaller entrenchments & FOB.

[@brianhirt5027]

@@richardcampbell2438 That sounds like a lot to coordinate. A lot that could be spoiled by counterbattery/antiaircraft suppressive fire getting lucky. Your strategy would be totally dependent on having uncontested air superiority.

[@vengeancewillbemine3440]

Great description and informatively entertaining.

[@robertgift]

Well done informative video! Thank you.

[@AinsleyHarriott1]

I love your sobering thought at the end. Truth is, if you destroy the entrance to the bunker, it becomes a reinforced tomb.

[@Coolhansolo]

Probably some people in Iraq now buried in those bunkers dead and never recovered.

[@ryanward8039]

That's why they have emergency exit tunnels.

[@marcusmoonstein242]

Nicely presented. If you look closely at the images at 16:52 and 17:12 you will notice that the part labelled "anti-penetration layer" actually consists of spheres of a different material embedded into the parent material. There's a whole video to be made about the physics of composite armors containing balls within it.

[@workingguy6666]

Perhaps Paul will cover that as well.

[@Outland9000]

Ah ha! Someone else noticed. Yes, those 'balls' make it particularly hard to break apart the concrete using impactors.

[@billynomates920]

@@Outland9000 i think most people will have noticed. they are 'pretty hard' to miss ;-)

[@marcusmoonstein242]

@DAVID.2049 I looked in Wikipedia for something like "metal balls in armor" or something like that. The science behind it is fascinating.

[@echo5delta]

It’s crazy how much our composite armor is so secret/sensitive tech but we are just giving it to hopefully allies in Europe right now? Fixing battle damage on the Abrams we weren’t allowed to be told what the panels were made out of we just welded them on. Now we just are handing them out to whoever

[@mrdw1971]

really fascinating video CD 👏🏻

[@rolandmotari]

My favorite KZbin narrator Curious Droid. Love your channel

[@RonLWilson]

With the ability to employ precision guidance maybe the solution is to drop multiple bombs where one hits then another hits after that at about the same location, etc. where each destroys a bit more that the previous.

[@jamesengland7461]

Seems to work with Gatling guns!

[@anfrex3342]

It would not be as efficient, if the facility you are attacking has an anti-air system... even worse if you are using airplanes to transport the bombs. But even if you plan to use satellites as a missile platform, you can't ignore the fact that countries like Russia are developing satellite killer missiles.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

​@@anfrex3342the US wrote the book on how to suppress enemy air defenses (then threw it at Iraq to great effect), and the use of a satellite weapon is a one and done. The retaliation attack on the satellite will be too late to mitigate the damage done.

[@sierraecho884]

Bad idea, it´s a workaround and shows that the main idea does not suffice.

[@RonLWilson]

@@sierraecho884 That is exactly what it was intended to be, a work around in case some better idea is not employed but one has to make do with what one has.

[@BonesyTucson]

I learned a *ton* in this video... I had no idea about these new types of concrete and their various strengths. Thanks mate! Well put together and well thought out.

[@kindlin]

Fiber reinforced concrete has been a thing for some time, now. It's just not common in the industry. These were definitely some super strong concrete's tho, surpassing the strength of even mild steel , which seems crazy to me.

[@BonesyTucson]

@@kindlin That's what blows me away! We have this low temperature, water based, insanely strong cast-able media that beats steel in some cases. Good stuff.

[@kindlin]

@@BonesyTucson I've heard that while the 19th century was all about industrialization, and the 20th century spawned basically all of our modern physics along with the related computers and quantum tech, the 21st century is going to be all about material science and the various way's we're going to be able to make use of all the physics we discovered in the preceding century.

[@mikedrop4421]

@@kindlin that's the first time I've heard that theory but it makes sense to me.

[@jimfisk4474]

Thanks for the report

[@bmurray330]

An excellent presentation. Kudos. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@robinwells8879]

I recall visiting the Normandy beaches and seeing shells still embedded in the embrasure perimeters and wondering if you were luckiest to have been killed cleanly by one penetrating or suffer the concussive results of it being stopped. There comes a point where the human contents must also be absorbing some of the energy release of impact and whether you could function afterwards. Centrifuges are very unlikely to survive such an insult intact.

[@johnscanlon2598]

The had 90 degree corners in the bunkers to absorb the concussion, but yea a pill box your screwed

[@tomhenry897]

Germans used more rebar then we do So does iran

[@mohare134]

What timing! Just got back from Destin, FL and we visited the Eglin AFB Armament Museum just outside of Destin...saw many of these bombs including the GBU-28 cannon-body bomb, MOAB, a mock-up of Fat Man, Tomahawk, etc. Very cool place if you've never been there before. Lots of retired planes too!

[@mikeburton7077]

That was fantastic , so interesting, thank you for all that you do

[@gr77552]

I never understood how that was possible. Finally someone explained it. Thanks! It was a very interesting video.

[@spacecowboy2483]

Curious Droid always manages to find a new and unexpected yet fascinating topic to talk about, and this is no exception!

[@Butterchunks]

I have learned so much from this channel. I have used this channel and a small number of others as stepping stones for my own betterment as an (almost) mechanical engineer.

[@chrissartain4430]

Always great information !!

[@bubisav123]

Wow. The video is amazing, and full of informations unknown to ordinary person. Congratulations

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

Excellent as always. It can be a bit difficult to describe how a channel who started off in shirts that meets the community standards of a match between Tommy Bahama and NASA circa 1978 on a casual Friday...to the same exact channel that easily hits top marks on research and production...plus better shirts. Big cheers mate!

[@ancliuin2459]

Impressive stuff. I considered myself sort of a buff of matters military, but this fiber concrete technology has escaped my attention. Thank you!

[@calvinmasters6159]

Well researched and presented.

[@jamesprovenzano8679]

Brilliant discussion, very informative.

[@robertharvilla4881]

While I'm sure the new HP concrete is pretty much mandatory for bunker construction, it seems to me like the easiest way to defeat bunker busters is to layer in some actual steel and ceramics to make them even more resistant to penetration. And air gaps could make the detonation more difficult, because which layer is it supposed to actually explode into? And just like tank armor, the bombs can also be made to penetrate like a shaped charge and burn their way down. The only trick would be to have the main explosive charge follow well behind and survive the penetrator blast.

[@robertharvilla4881]

My initial crazy idea for a double charge would be to physically tether a penetrator bomb to the follow up destroyer charge. That way instead of one super long bomb you would just have to get two bombs to hit the same spot and that would make them smaller and capable of being dropped by smaller aircraft.

[@skyrun29PvP]

@@robertharvilla4881 What about reactive defense on a bunker ? would it work to put an upper floor filled with explosive in order to blow the projectile before the intended target ?

[@donaldboyer8182]

Or go much deeper when building the bunker.

[@arostwocents]

Americans coming up with ways to better unlife people 😢

[@dziban303]

Worries about improved bunker designs played a role in the development of the new highly accurate B61 mod 12 nuclear gravity bomb, though it doesn't have a hardened, penetrating case. The B61 mod 11 is still in service, which *does* have a hardened case, but lacks the guidance equipment on the mod 12 (and also probably has a *much* larger yield than the mod 12). Let's all hope we never get to find out how they perform.

[@TimJBenham]

Could be handy against asteroids.

[@kindlin]

@@TimJBenham We don't want to blow up or penetrate an asteroid, we want to redirect the whole thing. Exploding a nuke right above the surface of the asteroid might do something.

[@templar6867]

Very good information Nicely done

[@TOPGNBR1]

Sir your channel is very informative and greatly presented keep up amazing job...

[@cthoadmin7458]

A weapon that can penetrate through 60 meters of ordinary reinforced concrete would be a fearsome sight indeed.

[@SoulArtSound]

I don't believe them..

[@andreykolkov2724]

Do you really really want to check what will happen if you unleash a world war again, Ale is there in Washington?!

[@darkshadowsx5949]

​@@SoulArtSound if a wall seems impenetrable you just need a bigger rock to throw.

[@fs5866]

That's because it is BS, it doesn't matter if the projectile itself can penetrate, but there's no way the projectile can keep it's momentum through all that concrete. I mean you can see it all already in the Russia Ukraine war, all the weapons NATO is funneling to Ukraine does jack s**t, they're no better than what Russians use or even worse.

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

I can't imagine how that is even possible.

[@jackallread]

Great episode with really detailed data! Thanks And holy crap, that’s amazing how deep the penetrators can go even through that tough of material! I’m going to look up this concrete you mentioned, sounds amazing! Thanks again

[@RezzpektMVP]

Great video quality

[@villiamo3861]

Superb video. Thanks.

[@Farlig69]

17:54 Maybe the best strategy is we take a long good look at ourselves and stop bloody fighting each other.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

An unlikely ideal sad as that is.

[@tommyrq180]

Nice idea. Wrong species.

[@nighthawk4028]

Peace is required but not everyone subscribe to this. We have been fighting each other with stones and sticks. .

[@mansari7310]

each other? as far as i know it is USA break the deal and kill their national hero

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

If you want peace prepare for war. It only takes a good look at eastern Europe today to see the cost of downplaying the existence of aggressors.

[@jan-olofharnvall8760]

These micro lecture’s are delightful as you Sir have such a pleasant voice and composed demeanour which presents any topic as interesting, you really should lecture for a living Paul😊

[@820hurleyj]

Very interesting video. Thanks!

[@ashifabedin]

absolutely fantastic video

[@horsebee1]

You made the claim that the high strength concretes were not commercially available until the 2000's but we were using this technology here in New Zealand in 1995. I personally led a team constructing ferro-cement panels that on test were routinely achieving 56 MHP plus with the aid of steel fiber.

[@eachday9538]

"...in the US" Listen again.

[@dzonikg]

In Serbia NATO droped many bunker buster bombs in 1999 on 2 airports that had underground level for storing military and civilian planes. And no bomb penetrate it ..

[@zachrywd]

Damn! That final statement was cold blooded, but 100% true.

[@davidcroxton8306]

I think "loose" rock packed in cages with separations between cages would have immense stopping ability. It would behave a bit like corn starch in the way it locks when asked to move rapidly.

[@ibubezi7685]

Like the Hasco barriers... I would think the loose rocks would be moved out of the way and/or pulverized, nullifying any stopping power. You're talking about brute force. Usually only something ticker/stronger stops that - like that new concrete - 'supposedly'.

[@rollinrat4850]

I've seen a giant steel chuck weighing several hundred pounds come off a big crashed lathe and fly through 3 thick concrete walls. I've also seen a 36" grinding wheel explode and become embedded in the wall. Inertia and momentum are quite a thing! This video doesn't surprise me that much, but it sure is impressive.

[@chriscarter2101]

Whilst at university in Newcastle, UK, in the '80's I had to use an ultra-centrifuge to separate proteins from solution. This operated at supersonic speeds in vacuum behind two think steel plates, which operated as sliding doors. One day the technician heard a noise as she opened the door to the attic the unit was in. To her horror the steel plates burst outwards and the truncated conical rotor shot through the reinforced concrete roof. It was found half a mile away. Amazingly, no one was hurt.

[@rollinrat4850]

@@chriscarter2101 Sounds like a cool job. I built test hardware for several big human testing centrifuges at NASA Ames Research center. They also had world class wind tunnels there. One of the compressor blades exploded once, flew out into a parking lot and destroyed a couple cars. Miraculously nobody got hurt.

[@alexdunphy3716]

Much of it is about sectional density too.

[@Tbird761]

The important characteristic of a bullet from an AR-15 is not its jacket, which is copper and not steel btw, but rather its velocity and cross section. A plain lead bullet travelling at 2500 fps would do the same thing to soft armor. The pistol bullet is both fatter and slower, creating less stress on the material. It isn't much a function of hardness. Penetrating hard armor does require some combination of hard and dense materials like uranium or tungsten. You can trade some of one property for the other, but you need some appropriate balance of both. It wouldn't matter if your bullet were 20g/cm^3 if it had the consistency of warm modeling clay. It also wouldn't matter if it were harder than diamond but as light as aerogel. Neither would work. It has to be a reasonable balance of both.

[@MrDJAK777]

Exploding a hollow sphere of your clay lined with tin can make a pretty effective penetrator for hardened targets.

[@ignitionSoldier]

Thanks for the correction!

[@petergerdes1094]

When you say that a diamond hard but super light projectile would fail is that keeping the speed constant (I believe that) or the momentum? I suspect a super hard but very light projectile packing the same momentum (so going crazy fast) would work pretty well. But I don't really know hence why I'm asking.

[@zackzittel7683]

Yeah that was a poor comparison. Should have used a traditional copper plated lead core FMJ in 9mm compared to monolithic carbon steel 9mm armor piercing projectile. (Yes they exist, and yes they not only penetrate soft armor but lvl 3+ plates. Pretty impressive for a 4” pistol. It was showcased and demo’d on the KZbin military arms channel.

[@zackzittel7683]

My 22-250 will punch through AR500 plates @200 yds with just a lead softpoint. (Found out the hard way) well, not that hard, just wasn’t trying to ruin that target. While a 5.56 with m193/m855 won’t penetrate it at 50 yards.

[@billymule961]

This is interesting from a non military construction point of view. Erecting a reinforced concrete structure using far less concrete and achieving greater strength would increase internal volume. Not to mention increasing load strength. The possibilities go on and on by being able to increase compressive strength along with tensile strength all the while using less material. As long as it's cost effective, which could be the make or break.

[@mattmcgovern230]

Great video. Interesting, very informative👍.

[@RWBHere]

At 16:37 that upper layer with the different sized roughly oval spheres within it is very interesting, because it shifts the impacting loads sideways, and maybe even reverses some of the energy back towards the surface. It's similar to the effect of pushing a stake into ungraded damp sand and gravel; it takes a lot more effort than you might think. It's also similar to the reason why railway tracks and sleepers 'float' on a loosely packed aggregate track bed, bearing the weight of heavy railway vehicles for many years.

[@stefanl5183]

Great video as always. However, I'd say the easiest way for Iran to stop US bunker buster bombs is simply to write a large check to Hunter. Hookers and blow are expensive nowadays.

[@paulheydarian1281]

🤭😅🤣😂🤪

[@daniellowrey8008]

Riveting content as always. I recognize the time and effort in researching the subject matter. I think this is the main draw for me to your videos.

[@SomeRandom6uy]

Thank You Sir for your great deal of information.

[@michaelgutierrez8874]

Great video 📹

[@thetruthexperiment]

Tech ingredients demonstration of graphene was astonishing. How to apply it to concrete the best way I’m not sure. Probably graphene mixed in as you’d expect along with composite fibers imbedded with graphene to bridge the gaps between larger potential cracks.

[@simonbarnes7620]

Short answer Yes! If you look up the various ways of making concrete and the actual penetration on the various types of concrete, you will find that Iran has the capability to use concrete that wouldn’t be penetrated, the big question is have they done this?

[@jasonwise8957]

Such an informative video 👏👏👏

[@jeffdittrich6778]

A really excellent understandable video.

[@m.streicher8286]

Curious Droid: "you should burry your enemies alive because it's more efficient"

[@fh5926]

If you collapse the access tunnels, it doesn't matter what is underneath. Sure they can dig it out eventually, but it takes those resources out for the time being, and you can just keep hitting it. If you can hit the air intake, you may have done the job right there. Another idea is to send a train of bunker busters into the same spot. Each enters the cavity created by the last. Or come in at an angle, get under the bunker, and lift it up. If you can send a missile right into the entrance, you don't have to penetrate the walls. The blast wave propagates down the entrance corridor and only has to deal with much thinner blast doors. Super precision bombs make everything so much easier. But if you don't have air superiority or super-duper-uber stealth, it is all for naught.

[@normieloser6969]

Wow, it definetly sounds possible! When we can get 5 meter precision on small artillery that has traveled 70 km, a smaller, perhaps meter wide precision sounds achivable from a plane 3-9 km above. These aren't micromunitions too, so that would help, maybe?

[@sebsibustechi8237]

Aren't access tunnels usually not built in a straight line? This might lessen the effect of a direct hit on them. The whole "bomb train" idea might work. But you have to remember that it shouldn't be to hard to just pour a 10 meter thick multilayer UHPC concrete slab. I mean if the Germans managed to construct 8m thick bunkers during WW2, 10m should be quite easy with modern construction equipment. This much UHPC probably has some decent multi hit capabilities. Maybe it would also be possible to develop something like explosive reactive armor (usually found on tanks) for bunkers? Furthermore, don't forget that AA has become much more effective in recent years (Iris-T supposedly has a 100% success rate in Ukraine). A solid tungsten bunker buster may not be that much harmed by an air defense missile, but its fins will still be blown off, making accurate targeting nearly impossible. Moreover, with modern tunneling equipment, it's not that hard to just dig a 400m deep hole. New concrete also allows for these bunkers to be much more resistant against shockwaves, which seems to be the Achilles heel of old cold war bunkers like the Cheyenne Mountain complex. Targeting the entrances and preventing anyone from going in or out of the bunker might still be the easiest way to neutralize these targets.

[@johno1544]

The train of multiple hits has been considered with nuclear strikes. Some of these modern command bunkers like the ones in China are thousands of feet down. Russia Yamantau base is another such site that would require multiple nuclear penetrators to take out and are considered weapon sinks at that point. Since we are treaty limited for nuclear weapon numbers now its has to weighed if it's even worth using that many vs saving them for other targets

[@fh5926]

@@johno1544 Cheyanne Mountain is under 5.000 ft. of granite IIRC. Don't know how deep Mt, Weather or Raven Rock is. SAC at Offut AFB is only about 50 ft. down, but it is all concrete. Hardened command posts are why Russia kept their 20-megaton warheads around and why we kept the Titans with their 9 MT warheads. We don't have any of the big bombs anymore. For almost all other applications, multiple smaller warheads work better. We canceled the Robust Earth Penetrator, so the best we have now is a variant on the B-61.

[@Polymath9000]

Way to expensive and with current state of economy not possible.

[@maymayman0]

Turning howitzer barrels into bunker busters is actually genius!! Thats so cool

[@terrylandess6072]

It was interesting to notice after the B-2 dropped it's two bombs it immediately began to gain altitude, not from pilot or flight systems input but from the loss of that much weight at once.

[@xirensixseo]

on a technical level, trebuchets and other siege engines were meant to break defences on top of walls and structures inside the walls, if they could break the wall itself that was a bonus. the invention of the cannon allowed armies to target walls. before this, the only guaranteed way to break a wall is tunnelling

[@sierraecho884]

Well today you can fly into space and steer an asteroid into your target from there. If you want to destry the super duper deep russian bunker and you don´t want to use a nuke ...that´s how you do it.

[@FarmerDrew]

Imagine a trebuchet that is hydraulic and has on one end, a long reach excavator arm, and it moves on tracks and feeds itself debris to throw over the wall

[@Genessis001]

This was the most forward, informational 18.5 minutes of pure awesomeness & learning the history of these things! Pretty damn cool. Rail guns ..... Once they can constantly & timely power those quickly. Ouch

[@Sidharth.Pratap]

Excellent documentary

[@markrowland1366]

The Midvale steel company, the research centre of Bethlehem steel, introduced a far tougher alloy for gun barrels, shell cass, and deep penetrating bombs. The shells for 17 pounder tank destroying gun, and the 76mm fitted to US Sherman tanks were a huge advance. The last five months of WW2 saw such an increase in the destruction of deeply protected sites, by this new steel, the generals knew it was all over. This wasn't announced loudly, but Ubot protective devices stopped working.

[@richanddebshawaiiadventure4340]

stop sniffing glue

[@swaslaukinonome]

What happens if you hit the same target within a few meters with multiple bunker busters? Do any of these properties hold up after the first strike? Seems like just dropping multiples would be easier than creating a single perfect shot.

[@frankcastle4010]

Are you referring to JDAMs?

[@Jman-uz6gp]

Exactly what I was thinking, why do you have to get all the through with just one? US has superior targeting and could hit the same spot multiple times.

[@ShangDi_became_Jesus]

Wow to see it like that, they are extremely impressive. Wow. It just goes through like butter

[@user-nu8in3ey8c]

Amazing bunker busters, and amazing super concrete materials. Materials science is always pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

[@Lantalia]

If you improving the accuracy of your weapon enough, you can chain a series of devices at the same point, though I suspect that may require some custom designs with clearing charges to not waste a bunch of energy powdering already shattered material

[@sierraecho884]

Does not work on multiple levels

[@accidentalheadclunkers8517]

My team won the 1997 University of Michigan engineering senior design competition coming up with the idea and process shown at 13:16. Sucks to see how it’s being used. The idea was to make buildings earthquake resistant.

[@accidentalheadclunkers8517]

Professor was Rida Farouki

[@byloyuripka9624]

lol bro actin like he invented the nuclear bomb and just sprinkled some fiber into cement that will still be used in its original purpose ffs. drama queens everywhere

[@Jameson1776]

@@byloyuripka9624 I know like you.

[@sierraecho884]

Don´t be sad everything is used to wage war. From the first bicycle to well ..paper. It´s not your fault.

[@Cat-Branchman]

Well done, thank you!

[@bowieinc]

Really good video

[@seanbrockest3888]

Congrats Curious Droid. You've gotten big enough that KZbin considers you a bandwidth risk, and your video is being artificially bitrate limited. Even though i'm watching it in 1080p, it barely looks 480p. You've made it!

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

I have no such issue. Might be a problem on your end.

[@seanbrockest3888]

@@TheEvilmooseofdoom it's something KZbin does based on platform, data center access, location, etc. When you click the quality button you see like 5 or 6 options, but each KZbin video is encoded into more than 20 different formats, bitrates, resolutions. No 2 experiences on KZbin are ever the same