Would UHPC concrete render all bunker buster essentially obsolete

[Ronny]

Normal structure concrete used in average building has compressive strength of around 5000 PSI, the biggest bunker buster in existent now can allegedly penetrated around 60 m of 5000 psi concrete. However, against 10000 psi concrete that value reduced to merely 8 m.



However UHPC concrete compressive strength reach 40,000 psi and it is estimated that even bomb like GBU-57 can only penetrate up to 2 meters into UHPC concrete, and UHPC is not even the newest kind of high performance concrete . Would this mean conventional penetrator will soon become obsolete ?

 

[Sferrin]

Starship didn't have a problem with it.

 

[DWG]

Even if unable to penetrate the concrete, you can still drop the bunker-buster alongside the target and undermine it with one or more camouflets as performance vs rock isn't affected. Worked perfectly well for Tallboy and Grandslam in WWII.

 

[publiusr]

NextBigFuture has Iranian concrete the best...but...

 

[Scott Kenny]

Starship didn't have a problem with it.

View attachment 793192

Starship is also delivering nuclear-level energies to said concrete.

 

[Ronny]

Starship didn't have a problem with it.

View attachment 793192

That maybe the effect of extreme heat also

 

[Ronny]

Even if unable to penetrate the concrete, you can still drop the bunker-buster alongside the target and undermine it with one or more camouflets as performance vs rock isn't affected. Worked perfectly well for Tallboy and Grandslam in WWII.

But what if the concretee cover on top is bigger than building structure under it?

 

[Scott Kenny]

But what if the concretee cover on top is bigger than building structure under it?

Then you're spending a lot of money on reinforced concrete.

And if we find out you're doing it, you may get a B61 bunker buster on your head.

 

[DWG]

But what if the concretee cover on top is bigger than building structure under it?

cf La Coupole. You still need to get in and out, and the tunnels weren't Tallboy proof.

 

[EmoBirb]

You still need to get in and out, and the tunnels weren't Tallboy proof.

I think that's the main take away here. The main bunker itself may be more resilient, but pathways, access points, ventilation systems etc. remain comparatively vulnerable.

One would have to proof these aspects as well, which is costly and requires impressive engineering skills, which are also expensive and hard to find on the international stage (which would also draw attention) or cultivate domestically. Speaking from an Iranian POV here given the topics nature.

 

[Sferrin]

That maybe the effect of extreme heat also

Exhaust got under it and lifted it out.

 

[Byeman]

Starship is also delivering nuclear-level energies to said concrete.

starship isn't going to be used for that.

 

[Scott Kenny]

starship isn't going to be used for that.

You're misunderstanding, I mean that the exhaust of Starship is nuclear-level energies, not that Starship might be used for nuclear weapons delivery.

 

[CV12Hornet]

It's worth noting that UHPC concrete currently costs 10-20 times as much as regular structural concrete. Not coincidentally, military applications are currently focused on very high-value structures, notably ICBM siloes.

Unless the cost of UHPC concrete comes down significantly you're never going to be able to afford to build everything out of UHPC concrete.