Military and Aerospace Electronics October 04, 2009
Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a huge bunker buster bomb, to be outfitted for B-2 stealth bomber
By John Keller
WASHINGTON, 4 Oct. 2009. U.S. Department of Defense leaders have found the money they sought to speed deployment of the 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster super bomb on the B-2 stealth bomber for potential use in heavily defended areas of the world, such as Iran and North Korea.
The Air Force 708th Armament Systems Group (ARSG/PK) at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., awarded a $51.9 million contract late Friday (FA8681-09-C-0280,P00002) to the Boeing Co. in St. Louis to integrate the Massive Ordnance Penetrator on a B-2 test aircraft. The Air Force has been considering fitting the Massive Ordnance Penetrator to the B-2 since early 2007.
In August the Pentagon asked Congress for permission to move $68 million in the 2010 DOD budget to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator program to enable the first four super bombs to be carried by the B-2. The 2010 federal fiscal year began on 1 Oct., yet Congress has not yet officially approved the 2010 DOD budget authorizations.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which can penetrate as deeply as 200 feet through reinforced concrete, is designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers in which enemy forces are conducting research into weapons of mass destruction, or for other high-threat purposes.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, commonly known as MOP, is 20 feet long, weighs 30,000 pounds, and carries 6,000-pounds of high explosives. It is designed to go deeper than any existing nuclear bunker-busting weapon. The bomb is designed to burrow more than 26 feet into the ground or through concrete before detonating.
U.S. defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Boeing Co. are developing the Massive Ordnance Penetrator under contract to Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to GlobalSecurity.org in Alexandria, Va.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, built by Boeing, is so large that the B-2 bomber could carry only one of the weapons. The super bomb has a short wing span and is satellite guided. The B-2 is a radar-evading bomber designed to penetrate sophisticated air defenses and drop explosives on valuable, heavily defended targets.
© Copyright 2009, PennWell Corporation, Tulsa, OK
