
Lord Humongus
55 posts








Hegseth: I witnessed lethality. I met a junior airman as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac, who, when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs. We will happily oblige her.













Why Invading and Occupying Kharg Island Is a Stupid Idea Kharg Island isn’t a place you can just storm, plant a flag, and hold. It’s a tiny coral outcrop, roughly 8 km long and 5–6 km wide, with a total area of only about 25 km², sitting just 25 km off the Iranian coast and 45-50 km from the Zagros Mountains. That extreme closeness turns it into a nightmare. Beneath the surface lies a vast network of reinforced tunnels dug 20-40 meters deep into coralline limestone. In hard granite, explosions send shockwaves far and wide, cracking everything. In porous limestone, though, the blast energy dissipates quickly by crushing the rock’s own pores around the impact point, protecting deeper fortifications. Satellite images from the last decade of naval base and terminal expansions show concrete plants and shipments of quartz and fine aggregates, clear signs of high-strength concrete being poured for these bunkers. The island is heavily mined, guarded by troops in underground positions, overlooked by mountain firing points, and surrounded by hundreds of Iranian missile-armed vessels. Iranian fragmentation warheads, like those on Shahed-131 and 136 drones, scatter 3,000 to 7,000 pre-formed tungsten fragments, lethal against unarmored troops. Any garrison crammed onto such a small island would face wave after wave of missiles and drones every day. Survival would come at horrific cost. The Iranian defenders would remain safe inside tunnels with dozens of exits spread across the island. Hundreds of troops, many special forces who know every corner of the terrain, could hold out for days or weeks, launching ambushes like those seen in Gaza. Attacking troops would have almost no safe shelter. The only significant infrastructure is the oil refining and storage facilities, and Iranian tunnel exits and fortifications almost certainly reach into or near them. I can’t imagine special forces with limited or no supplies trading fire in the middle of fuel tanks and pipelines. That’s not combat, it’s insanity. There’s no secure supply route by sea, and the airspace would be fiercely contested, making air resupply extremely dangerous. Even if supplies got through, there’s nowhere safe to store or protect them outside the refining areas. Suppose a landing somehow succeeded by air. Beyond the hundreds of Iranian special forces in the tunnels, the threats would pile up fast: By sea Iran has over 800 fast attack boats (Ashura, Seraj, and Ra’ad classes) fitted with 107mm rocket launchers in 12-tube pods. Just 80 of them could unleash 960 rockets in one salvo against the tiny island, many carrying Fajr-1 fragmentation warheads with an 8–12 km range. Some Zulfiqar-class boats carry two canisters for the Fath-360 ballistic missile (120 km range) loaded with cluster munitions and anti-personnel tungsten. At least 30-40 of these boats likely have that setup. Tondar-class boats with 23mm cannons could rake the island at night-Iran still operates around 10 of them. Even with many larger warships damaged, Iran keeps at least 25 smaller, well-armed patrol vessels active. From the mainland Iran can strike with at least five types of ballistic ranging 85-200 km. Systems like the Ababil and Fath-360 launch in pods of 6–8 missiles per salvo, often with anti-personnel cluster munitions and tungsten fragments. Heavy rockets such as the Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2 with 150–200 km range, 600 kg warheads, have started receiving guidance kits, now with 50m CEP. By air Iran operates more than 10 models of kamikaze and attack drones with modern day/night sensors. These can deliver repeated strikes, dropping bombs multiple times a day by models like the GAZA. A landing might be possible with massive air and naval superiority, but actually holding the island would be nearly impossible. In the best case, you’d destroy much of the oil infrastructure during the fight. In reality, it would likely turn into a massacre. Join my Substack: @global21" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@global21












