Posted on 01/15/2013 11:03:26 AM PST by blam
The Pentagon's New 30,000-lb MOP Bomb Is Ready To Go
Robert Johnson and David Cenciotti, The Aviationist
January 15, 2013, 7:20 AM
The B-2 is the only aircraft capable of delivering the 30,000 lb MOP
Boeing has successfully improved its 30,000-lb Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb UK’s Royal Air Force to support French forces deployed to Mali with airlifters. And drones. French Rafale “omnirole” fighter jets join air strikes in Mali. With brand new weapons. U.S. spyplanes, drones already flying over Mali France escalates war in Africa: Mirage 2000D bombers hit targets in North Mali Senior Pentagon officials told Congress the nation's largest conventional bomb, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), is ready for action.
The Air Force said as much back in June after rushing the MOP back to Boeing for $82 million in modifications and enhancements, but this report puts it on the books as deployable ordnance.
According to Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio, on his annual report, the Pentagon’s director of operational testing Michael Gilmore confirmed that tests conducted with the heavy GBU-57, a 20-foot long, 30,000 pound GPS-guided bomb thought able to penetrate 200 feet of concrete before exploding, have demonstrated that the redesigned bomb is able to hit and destroy deeply buried targets.
The enhanced MOP features tail-fin modifications to fix bugs identified in testings as well as as a second fuse to destroy hardened underground targets.
Boeing - Chicago based Boeing manufactures the MOP shown here for scale
Gilmore’s report says that the modifications were tested with five bomb drops from a B-2 stealth bomber on the White Sands Missile Range, conducted between June and October, and two ground tests.
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Boeing - On a cached Boeing page was the only new MOP image to be found
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
That is one heck of an exploding suppository...
weird to see one of the world’s deadliest weapons is created by heavy older women wearing sweaters.
Holy Guacamole! The BLU-82 “Daisey Cutter” was 12,500 pounds of explosive!!
“The B-2 is the only aircraft capable of delivering the 30,000 lb MOP “
Not really.
The B-52 is also capable. The B-52 was the original test platform and the fleet is capable of delivering the ordinance.
The MOP is a guided free-fall penetrating weapon. . .quite different than the “daisy-cutter” (un-guided free-fall, non-penetrating weapon).
Don’t need to penetrate 500’ deep (or better), just one that can penetrate accurately to close tunnels leading to underground facilities.
No danger of collateral damage here.
How old is that photograph?
After the cut off I date I got yelled at for even thinking about coming to work in BDU's.
Huh??? Something tells me this isn't right. 200 feet of earth with some concrete hidden under it maybe.
Yeah. . .that’s Boeing.
Got to appease the PC nazis, you see.
So Boeing finds a couple of contracting females, a finance female, and a couple of office assistants and stack them in the crowd. . .”aren’t we wonderful!”
Lube it up with KY Jelly and it will go another 100 feet.
Photo is about 4-5yrs old. Those in uniform were mostly Weaponeers and the officer was an Acq guy.
Posed in a hanger (i.e., “the field” for the Air Force). Therefore, BDUs and utilities were allowed.
You’re right.
Weapon for special missions only. . .
HA!!!
Drop it on the White House. Ooops.
And probably 3-5 in that picture actually designed and engineered and built the bomb and the rest were “managers”, none of which had ever “managed” a weapons, explosives, aviation, or military program before in their life. The project is most likely millions past budget and years late.
Sounds like an awesome weapon.
I’m a little curious how it works.
The fins in the middle dont appear to have control surfaces.
Presumably those square flaps on the back can be manipulated to target it?
Don’t those flaps add a lot of drag? I’d think you’d want to maximize velocity to get maximum penetration and those flaps would be counter productive to that.
Of course, I suspect penetration without control is less effective at accomplishing the task at hand.
Just like welding...
(s) nully, who is not holding his breath.
Question: In ancient times (my world), BDUs (fatigues, again, my world) were all you wore to work. What do they wear now?
One Mali MOPper-upper Super-sized coming up.. uhh,, down.. spoundslike Mali is a target-rich environment these days for some reason. ;-) .. will O pull the trigger . for the children 8-?
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