The United States Air Force intends to equip part of its extensive strategic bomber fleet with a new type of weapon - a 30,000 pound bomb with an immense strike capability - it has emerged. The heavyweight bomb, developed by Boeing, will equip Northrop B-2 Spirit "Stealth Bombers" in limited numbers from 2012 onwards.

Massive Ordnance Penetrator

While the USAF has just announced the acquisition, trials of the Boeing GBU57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) have actually been taking place for a few years now. The MOP is designed primarily to take out solid bunkers at subterranean level.

Initial flight tests of the B-2 Spirit/ GBU57 MOP combo are scheduled for June 2011, with a view to achieving operational readiness 12 months later, according to the USAF. It added that no modifications would be required to the Stealth Bomber's programme of flight operations in order to fit the new technology into the aircraft's weapons load - meaning the process can be done relatively quickly and relatively cheaply.

No concrete data is yet available on the exact number of GBU57s that the USAF intends to acquire. However, the air force itself has suggested 10 as a "best estimate figure", with five before this as test bombs. There is also the potential for five more to be acquired, Armed Forces International understands.

Prior to the current Obama presidency, requests for funding for as many as 20 MOPS to equip USAF B-2s were denied. The situation now seems to have changed, meaning that the USAF can progress with purchasing and integrating the GBU57 into its military aircraft weapons inventory.

USAF Weapons Inventory

At 30,000 pounds, the GBU57 will potentially be the largest weapon in its penetrative class within the USAF's weapons inventory - a title currently held by the GBU-28, which weighs 5,000 pounds. Six years ago, a USAF test occurred involving a MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) bomb, which weighed 20,000 pounds.

Relatively little information exists on the GBU57, although we do know that it incorporates precision guidance technologies.

The B-2 Spirit itself has now been in USAF service for 12 years, and first flew in 1989. A total of 21 were built, with 20 still operational and most of them operating out of Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.