US Air Force personnel and contractors pose in front of a Massive Ordnance Penetrator mock up in 2007. USAF
The Warzone/The Drive: USAF Orders More Upgraded Massive Ordnance Penetrator Bombs Amid Tensions with North Korea
The improved 33,000 pound bunker busters would be a key part of any "bloody nose" strike on the reclusive communist country.
The U.S. Air Force will pay Boeing nearly $21 million to build more of the service’s heaviest conventional bomb, the GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, following successful tests of a new variant that includes an improved fuze. The huge bunker busters would be an essential component of any strike against North Korea, including a limited operation to try and neutralize its ballistic missile and nuclear weapon capabilities, as well as missions against other potential adversaries with extensive subterranean military infrastructure, such as Iran or China.
The Air Force announced the contract award on Feb. 8, 2018, on the U.S. government’s main contracting website, FedBizOpps, while the Pentagon confirmed it in a routine press release on the same day. The notices do not say how many individual bombs Boeing will build, but note that the company will perform the work entirely at its facilities in St. Louis Missouri and that it should have delivered all of the new MOPs by July 31, 2020. An earlier 2011 contract worth approximately $28 million had paid for eight of the 33,000 pound bombs, but also included orders for various parts and accessories, as well as a redesign of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber’s rear bomb bay to accommodate the munition. The B-2 is the only platform that would employ the weapon in combat.
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WNU Editor: I guess the Air Force is getting ready for the worse.
