Breedlove said that the Next Generation Penetrator (NGP) munition should be about a third the size of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator so it could be carried by affordable aircraft. ī-52 releases a MOP during a weapons test, 2009. A 2013 report stated that the development had been a success, and B-2 integration testing began that year. In 2012, the Pentagon requested $82 million to develop greater penetration power for the existing weapon.
And as of March 2012, there is an "operational stockpile" at Whiteman Air Force Base. The Air Force now has received delivery of 16 MOPs as of November 2011. On 14 November 2011, Bloomberg reported that the Air Force Global Strike Command started receiving the Massive Ordnance Penetrator and that the deliveries "will meet requirements for the current operational need". In February 2012, Congress approved $81.6 million to further develop and improve the weapon. The Air Force took delivery of 20 bombs, designed to be delivered by the B-2 bomber, in September 2011.
BUNKER BUSTER GAMES PLUS
On 7 April 2011, the USAF ordered eight MOPs plus supporting equipment, for $28 million. The project has had at least one successful Flight Test MOP launch. military that funding delays and enhancements to the planned test schedule meant the bomb would not be deployable until December 2010, six months later than the original availability date. Congress to shift funding in order to accelerate the project. On 6 October 2009, ABC News reported that the Pentagon had requested and obtained permission from the U.S. The initial explosive test of MOP took place on 14 March 2007 in a tunnel belonging to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Air Force's B-2s is to be able to carry two 14-ton MOPs. Northrop Grumman announced a $2.5-million stealth-bomber refit contract on 19 July 2007. It is also planned to be deployed on the B-21 Raider. It is intended that the bomb will be deployed on the B-2 Spirit, and will be guided using GPS.
Development of the MOP was performed at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida with design and testing work performed by Boeing. Air Force has not officially communicated a specific military requirement for an ultra-large bomb, but it does have a concept for a collection of very large penetrator and blast weapons: the so-called "Big BLU" collection, which includes the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) bomb. This renewed interest in the development of a larger bunker buster, and the MOP project was initiated by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to fulfill a long-standing Air Force requirement. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, analysis of sites that had been attacked with bunker buster bombs revealed poor penetration and inadequate levels of destruction. In 2002, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin were working on the development of a 30,000-pound (13,600 kg) earth-penetrating weapon, but funding and technical difficulties resulted in the development work being abandoned. It is designed to accomplish a difficult, complicated mission of reaching and destroying an adversary's weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities. This is substantially larger than the deepest-penetrating bunker busters previously available, the 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) GBU-28 and GBU-37. The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator ( MOP) is a precision-guided, 30,000-pound (14,000 kg) " bunker buster" bomb used by the United States Air Force.
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