There is a new bunker buster in development, presumably as a contingency plan for Iranian or North Korean hardened nuclear facilities. The non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP in development would be 20-foot-long and built to be dropped from either the B-52 or the B-2 "stealth" bomber. It would deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109. The Air Force wants Congress to shift enough funds to the Northrop Grumman Corp's radar-evading B-2 bomber program which would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010. Obama has recently said that the offer of negotiation with Iran is not open ended.
By REUTERS
Published: August 2, 2009
Filed at 4:55 p.m. ET
Skip to next paragraph WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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.
The suspected nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea are believed to be largely buried underground to escape detection and boost their chances of surviving attack.
During a visit to Jerusalem last week, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates sought to reassure Israel that a drive by President Barack Obama to talk Iran into giving up its nuclear work was not "open-ended."
Pentagon Eyes Accelerated "Bunker Buster" Bomb 
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