US developing
new bunker-buster bomb
The US military plans to develop an experimental 30,000-pound
(13,600 kg) bomb, the biggest in its inventory, aimed at destroying
deeply buried targets beyond the reach of existing bombs, the Air
Force said.
The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, would be about one-third
heavier than the 21,000-pound (9375 kg) Massive Ordnance Air Blast,
MOAB, dropped twice last year in "live" tests at a range in
Florida.
On Friday, the Air Force's Air Armaments Center at Eglin Air Force
Base, Florida, said it planned to award a contract for the
"technology demonstration" work as early as mid-September, based on
a perceived need for such a weapon.
"We think a bomb like this could be important in the future for
targets that we can't destroy with what we now have," said Jake
Swinson of the armaments center, which develops, tests, evaluates
and acquires non-nuclear, air-dropped munitions.
Among companies that have built ground-penetrating bombs are three
of the top US defence contractors, Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing
Co. and Raytheon Co.
Proposals are due by 16 August, the armaments center said.
2007 testing
The plan to develop the bomb was reported first by Jane's Defense
Weekly. The project's demonstration phase would cost about $11.5
million through the end of fiscal 2007, it said.
Flight testing is projected in about 2006, Swinson said.
Penetrators are made of special alloys designed to stay intact on
impact to improve the effectiveness of conventional weapons against
deep tunnels and other underground facilities.
The MOAB, by contrast, is an experimental blast fragmentation bomb.
Packed with 18,000 pounds (8036 kg) of high explosive, it would be
used against surface targets and explode at or just above the
ground.
B-2 stealth
Swinson said the mammoth bomb may be designed to fit in the bomb
bay of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s batwing B-2 radar-evading bomber as
well as the Boeing B-52 bomber.
The MOAB, a modernization of the Vietnam-era BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter"
used to clear jungle helicopter landing zones, may be dropped only
from slow-flying C-130 transport aircraft.
The Daisy Cutter saw action in Afghanistan where it was used
against mountain cave entrances. There were also unconfirmed
reports that the MOAB may have been deployed in Basra in March
2003.
The new bomb would not be the largest ever built by the United
States. A 44,000-pounder was carried by Cold War era B-36
intercontinental bombers but was never used.
(source: [of all places]Al-Jazeera)
