USAF To Arm B-2A With Massive Bunker-Buster Bomb

Flight International ^ | June 9, 2009 | By Stephen Trimble

[rahbert]

Big BOOM!

[tophat9000]

Hmmm what upgrades are in the pipe to the B2 to make it a B2-A model ?

[sauropod]

Well at least the LSI can build a big bomb!

[Doogle]

MOP up

[null and void]

Modify the bomb bay for a MOP?

[beethovenfan]

Give some to Israel and have them run tests in Iran.

[skinkinthegrass]

much more info. here.
< http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/dshtw.htm >

[nascarnation]

I assume these are for destroying the “compounds” of right wing militia in potentially secessionary states?

[GreyFriar]

I wonder it they have orders to go after Levin in his bunker?

[Finalapproach29er]

Isn’t a daisy cutter 5000 lbs? and this is 6 times greater?

whoa.
lol!

[ops33]

The first model in an aircraft series is the A model. Any future upgrades could result in a B-2B.

[GAB-1955]

I understand your zeal, but if you give advanced military equipment to Israel, somehow the Chinese build a knockoff in a half dozen years.

[flowerplough]

Why bother? The B-2A is so weather-sensitive, fragile, and expensive that it’ll never be deployed to any hemispehere that contains a bunker that needs busting.

[Big_Monkey]

"The first model in an aircraft series is the A model. Any future upgrades could result in a B-2B."

You learn something new everyday. With personal weapons systems it's a little different. A alpha-designator after the model name, would indicate some kind of variant. ie. M16, M16A1, M16a2 or M1911, M1911A1

[lentulusgracchus]

Isn’t a daisy cutter 5000 lbs? and this is 6 times greater?

Let's have a little bit of economy here! (I oppose government waste!)

Look, in a confined space, you don't get much more bang for your buck from sizing up your gross bang level, since you get so much unpleasantness from the initial, entry-level sort of bang, like a 750-pound bomb. One of those going off in an Iranian supersecret weapons lab would pretty well spoil everyone's day already.

So what happens if you take a garden-variety daisy-cutter, suitably accessorized to play an authentic period Jimi Hendrix guitar solo on the way down, screw several segments of a space-shuttle SRB onto its ass end programmed to ignite during descent, and see what that'll penetrate, break, and generally spoil? Bet it wouldn't leave much to MOP up.

[jimtorr]

The B-2A is so weather-sensitive, fragile, and expensive that it’ll never be deployed to any hemispehere that contains a bunker that needs busting.

The B-2 has been deployed to every bomber base in the USAF inventory. One even crashed off Guam. Birds, I think. The B-2 has been used extensively over Iraq and Afghanistan.

[myknowledge]

But the stealth bomber’s RAM coating is quite delicate like glass, unlike the Raptor’s durable and robust RAM coating, which can even take acid rain.

[flowerplough]

The B-2 has been deployed to every bomber base... used extensively over Iraq and Afghanistan

If you say so... This is the kind of stuff I've been reading about the B-2 for years:

The most expensive aircraft ever, each of the 21 B-2s costs over $2 billion (development and construction costs combined). The 170 ton aircraft can carry 22 tons of bombs. There's not a big need for the B-2 at the moment, as the older B-1s and B-52s can deliver bombs cheaper, and just as reliably. Smart bombs have greatly reduced the need for heavy bombers, since one smart bomb ... (http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20080428.aspx?comments=Y)

And "The Buff (B-52) fleet's cumulative mission capable rate from March 2000 through March 2001 was 80.5 percent, said Air Combat Command officials. The B-1 Lancer's rate was 53.7 percent and the B-2 Spirit's 30.3. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBP/is_6_45/ai_77106313/)

[OA5599]

The BLU-82 Daisy Cutter is 15,000lbs if I remember correctly. The explosives account for 12,600lbs.

It’s replacement is the GBU-43 MOAB. That’s 22,000lbs with 18,000 of it being explosives. Unlike the unguided Daisy Cutter, the MOAB is GPS guided.

The MOP (GBU-57) is 30,000lbs with a 6,000lb warhead. The previous large bunker buster was the GBU-28 which was about 5,000lbs with a 600lb warhead.