Pentagon's Massive New Bomb to Have "Bunker Busting" Capability
The Defense Department is beginning development of a new conventional bomb that will dwarf its predecessors, and is intended to attack hardened targets buried underground. Known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), this weapon could serve as a conventional alternative to the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) currently under development by the Pentagon.
The Air Force awarded a $20 million contract to the Boeing Corporation on November 1, 2004, to “design and test a large penetrating munition” intended for use against “multi-story buildings with hardened bunkers and tunnel facilities.” At 30,000 pounds, although it could be used against a broad range of targets, the MOP’s extremely large warhead and penetrating capability would make it ideal for attacking reinforced installations buried under ground - the role being considered for the RNEP.
The MOP is being developed by the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It is the latest attempt by the Pentagon to defeat hardened or buried targets, and is a follow-on to the GBU-28, a 4,700-pound penetrating bomb designed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
The MOP is also much larger than the biggest conventional bombs in the current U.S. arsenal. It is twice the size of the 15,000-pound Vietnam-era “Daisy Cutter,” (BLU-82) and nearly forty percent larger than the 21,000-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), known as the “Mother of All Bombs.” Yet unlike the Daisy Cutter (used in Vietnam, the 1991 Gulf War and Afghanistan), and the MOAB (which has never been used in combat), which both explode above ground, the MOP is specifically intended to have a penetrating capability.
In contrast, weapons like the Daisy Cutter and the MOAB are intended for use against surface targets such as large troop formations, although they were used in attacks against Afghani defensive positions located in caves. They are not considered to have a “bunker busting” capability.
The MOP is also different in that unlike the Daisy Cutter and the MOAB, which are unguided “dumb” bombs, it will be a precision munition, or “smart” bomb, and will utilize a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) guidance system. And while the Daisy Cutter and the MOAB are quite literally pushed out the back of large transport aircraft, the MOP will be carried by either a B-52 or B-2 bomber.