GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Bomb
The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, known as the MOP, is the most powerful conventional bunker-busting bomb in the U.S. arsenal. Designed to defeat deeply buried and heavily reinforced underground facilities, it gives the United States a unique capability to hold hardened strategic targets at risk without using nuclear weapons.
Developed in the mid 2000s, the weapon was created to address emerging threats posed by fortified command centers and suspected weapons facilities built deep underground.
Manufacturer and Origin
The GBU-57 was developed by Boeing for the United States Air Force. It is produced in the United States and integrated primarily on long range strategic bombers.
Speed, Range, and Capability
The GBU-57 is a precision guided gravity bomb equipped with GPS guidance. It is released from high altitude bombers, including the B-2 Spirit and, following upgrades, the B-52 Stratofortress.
Once released, it follows a ballistic trajectory toward its target. The weapon does not have its own propulsion system. Its range depends on release altitude and aircraft speed, typically allowing stand off employment from high altitude.
Weighing roughly 30,000 pounds, the bomb uses a hardened steel casing designed to penetrate deep into reinforced concrete or rock before detonation. Its warhead is a high explosive penetrator optimized for underground targets.
Cost
Exact unit cost figures are not publicly confirmed, but estimates suggest several million dollars per weapon, reflecting its size, specialized casing, and guidance system.
FAQs
It is designed to destroy deeply buried and hardened underground facilities using conventional explosives.
No. It is a conventional high explosive penetrator bomb.
It is primarily carried by the B-2 Spirit and, after modification, the B-52 Stratofortress.
The weapon weighs approximately 30,000 pounds, making it one of the heaviest conventional bombs in U.S. service.
It provides a non nuclear option to strike hardened strategic targets that are beyond the reach of smaller bunker buster munitions.
