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

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

[Fennie]

The US Air Force today revealed plans to acquire a small arsenal of a new 13,600kg (30,000lb) penetrator bomb to deploy on Northrop Grumman B-2As in three years.

The USAF's public notice follows several years of testing the Boeing GBU57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is designed to destroy hardened bunkers buried deeply underground.

The USAF plans to begin flight tests on the B-2A starting in June 2011 and reach operational status by June 2012, the USAF notice says. Integrating the MOP requires no changes to the B-2A's operational flight programme, avoiding a potentially costly and time-consuming recertification process.

The USAF's "best estimate" anticipates buying five test and 10 residual MOP bombs. But another five residual bombs could also be purchased, the USAF notice says.

In previous years, lawmakers had rejected the previous Administration's requests to fund a "quick reaction capability" to buy up to 20 MOPs for the B-2A fleet.

But the opposition from Congress appears to have faded, allowing the USAF to move forward with development and procurement of the 15t bunker-buster bombs.

[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.