A rare image of the B-2 stealth bomber and the 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), otherwise known as the bunker buster bomb, was recently posted by the Aviationist, operated by David Cenciotti.
The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is the only U.S. Air Force aircraft that has the capability to carry the massive bombs and drop it on an Iranian underground nuclear facility. The 20-foot long buster bomb is guided by a GPS system and is believed to be able to penetrate 2300 feet of concrete before detonation.
The F-35 stealth bomber still under construction, also designed to carry heavy bombs, has been thought to be used as an attack plane on Iran if the time comes for a military strike, but the B-2 fills the bill.
The image above was photographed by Jim Mumaw. “There are not many images showing the GBU-57 and even less show the MOP next to its intended platform,” Cenciotti wrote on his web blog.
Congress allocated money in 2009 to accelerate the MOP project, and the legislators last year approved an additional $81.6 million to improve the bomb.
The B-2, manned by a pilot and mission commander, already has been flown by dozens of pilots. The plane can carry two MOPs. Its stealth design enables it to enter enemy territory without detection.
Two B-2s flew a round trip of 13,000 miles last March from an Air Force base in Missouri to South Korea, dropping dummy bombs on a target range.
The Obama administration has sent U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to gab away with Iran, the video below, first shown two years ago, delivers a clear message that the United States has another solution to solve the threat of a nuclear Iran.