March 16, 200719 yr From Air Force Times Test of massive bunker-busting bomb a success Staff report Posted : Thursday Mar 15, 2007 17:26:47 EDT The Defense Threat Reduction Agency successfully conducted the first explosive test of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator conventional weapon Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to a press release from the agency. The 30,000-pound penetrating bomb — which would be the largest in the Air Force’s inventory — is designed to defeat hard and deeply-buried targets such as bunker and tunnel facilities. The test consisted of a conventional weapon placed within a test tunnel, not dropped from the air. “This demonstration of the bomb’s capability to defeat tunnels was a significant step in the development of this innovative concept,” program manager Robert Hastie said in a statement. The DTRA program is a technology demonstrator, and any decision to deploy the bomb would be made by the Air Force. If deployed, the GPS-guided bomb could be carried by B-2 and B-52 bombers and employed at high altitudes. The new weapon measures more than 20 feet long and 31½ inches in diameter. Its casing is built from 3½-inch-thick high-performance steel. The bomb contains about 5,500 pounds of explosives. Flight testing is expected to begin at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in September and could conclude by the end of the year.
Create an account or sign in to comment