In article . com, AirRaid
wrote:

In the past, I've posted about the U.S. Air Force's program to develop
"Big BLU", a 30,000 pound bunker buster MUCH more capable than the old
GBU-28. back then Big BLU was just in development. Now it's almost
ready.

The first article is FOS


http://www.domain-b.com/aero/july/20...enetration.htm

New 'deep penetration' 30,000 lb mega-bomb will MOP up the enemy
24 July 2007

The bat-winged B-2 stealth bomber will soon be capable of carrying a
30,000-pound (13.6 tonne) super-bomb that could obliterate heavily
reinforced facilities like bunkers or deeply buried targets like
underground nuclear installations. Defence manufacturer Northrop
Grumman has a seven-month, $2.5 million Air Force contract to make the
bomber capable of carrying two of these new mega-bombs in its weapons
bay.

Called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) this enormous piece of
ordnance is being developed by the Boeing Company. The mega-bomb will
have more than 5,300 pounds (2.4 tonnes) of explosives, encased in a
20.5 foot hardened steel casing which makes it capable of penetrating
and destroying deeply buried targets like tunnels, bunkers, etc.

With more than 10 times the explosive power of its bunker-busting
predecessor, the BLU-109, MOP will be a smart device, precision-guided
by global positioning system (GPS) based navigation to zero in on the
target. The Air Force wants to use the bomb with both the veteran B-52
and the B-2 stealth bombers. Part of the reason for the new mega-bomb
is to ensure that bomber aircraft will remain a strategic and tactical
weapon system over the next 50 years, providing a steady stream of
lucrative contracts for defence manufacturers.

The bat-like B-2s will require two major modifications, each costing
about $1 billion, to be able to successfully deliver the MOP. Work is
underway in the Antelope Valley, where the bombers were produced and
where around 1,000 Northrop Grumman employees still work on the B-2.

A new radar antenna called the active electronically scanned array
will be installed on B-2 bombers over the next five years. This will
avoid conflicts with the Ku Band frequency spectrum, which the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has opened up for commercial
transmissions. The second change is a new satellite communications
link that offers 50 times greater bandwidth for receiving and sharing
data.

The AESA radar and the new Satcom have NOTHING to do with the
MOP or the prep work (mostly with bomb racking) to the B-2.
Whomever wrote that article was smoking dope.

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur