JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tensions are high as the nation waits to find out if the United States is potentially heading into a full-scale war with Iran.
Those tensions hit close to home because Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia are home to multiple U.S. military bases.
People in the Jacksonville metropolitan area who have loved ones currently serving in the military are awaiting President Trump’s decision on whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran. Those strikes would involve the U.S. military dropping a 30-thousand-pound bomb on an Iranian nuclear facility.
Should the U.S. decide to go that route, it will be daring and dangerous because Iran may not have the air superiority and weaponry that the U.S. has, but they do have the capability to shoot down aircraft.
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The B-2 Stealth Bomber is the one aircraft capable of flying into Iran and dropping a 30,000-pound MOAB, which stands for mother of all bombs. The heavy explosive weapon is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. military arsenal that may be used to try and destroy Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, which, according to U.S. intelligence, is not only surrounded by thick concrete but also embedded hundreds of feet inside a mountain.
To get a local perspective on how such a mission would possibly be carried out, News4JAX talked with Jacksonville defense attorney Randy Reep, a recently retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who flew the F-15 Eagle. Reep said a stealth bombing raid on Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility won’t be as easy as many people may think.
“Iran would have the advantage of being on the defense. It’s easier when the threat is coming at you, which is what we would have to do. If you look at the sheer amount of distance we would have to travel, it’s difficult to do that without some signature being put out there that you’re coming,” Reep said.
The B-2 bomber may be stealthy to enemy radar, but that may not guarantee that the Iranian military won’t pick up some kind of heat signature from the plane. This is why the U.S. military will have to know where Iran’s surface-to-air missile sites are located, especially since Iran has boasted about having hypersonic missiles that are capable of traveling well beyond 5 times the speed of sound. Reep said that’s one advantage of being on the defensive.
“You know where the threat is coming from eventually, and so you can put your tactical and strategic positions to give the best defense that you can. I don’t think this will be Iran putting up F-14s from the 70s against us. This is going to be a surface-to-air fight, Reep said.
To prevent the B-2 from being shot down, Reep said the first part of the strike mission would likely be suppression. This could mean launching Air Force F-15, F-16, and even the mighty F-22 Raptor from airbases in the region, along with launching F-18s from an aircraft carrier that may be stationed in the Persian Gulf. Their mission would be to take out the enemy SAM sites.
“Knock down what you can so that when the right assets are going in, they’re not being bothered by those dangerous weapons,” Reep said
Reep said that should the U.S. get directly involved and decide to take out the Fordo nuclear facility, the use of lethal force will likely be overwhelming.
“You don’t slap what you’re going to destroy. You’re going to destroy it,” Reep said.
As for relatives of loved ones who might get called to take part in the strike mission, should the mission happen, Reep said it will be dangerous, but he also said this is what the military trains and prepares for.