Posted on 08/03/2009 7:02:39 AM PDT by Strategy
The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large "bunker-buster" bomb on the most advanced U.S. bomber as soon as July 2010, the Air Force said on Sunday, amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.
The non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, which is still being tested, is designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers beyond the reach of existing bombs.
If congress agrees to shift enough funds to the program, Northrop Grumman Corp's radar-evading B-2 bomber "would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010," said Andy Bourland, an Air Force spokesman.
"The Air Force and Department of Defense are looking at the possibility of accelerating the program," he said. "There have been discussions with the four congressional committees with oversight responsibilities. No final decision has been made."
The precision-guided weapon, built by Boeing Co, could become the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever used.
Carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives, it would deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109, according to the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which has funded and managed the seed program.
Chicago-based Boeing, the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier by sales, could be put on contract within 72 hours to build the first MOP production models if Congress signs off, Bourland said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Steel. To get that much penetration requires a lot of steel for mass and to compensate for ‘ablation’ as it travels through rock.
The other 25k lbs is whatever gets the payload thru several dozen yards of reinforced concrete, intact.
Carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives. it would deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109
What in the world comprises the other 25k lbs?
At a guess, and considering the size of one of the B-2's bays, I'd say it's likely to be depleted uranium, or some alloy of same. Not only for penetration, but it burns real good when it gets there, too. Nice, flaming hole in the ground for BDA.
I gotta wonder though, with 3/4ths of its load capacity in one bay, won't the B-2 carrying one of these list on that side in flight? Not sure I'd wanna be herding a beast loaded like that 12 k miles.
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