Will Israel Receive the New Bunker Buster Bomb?

In the framework of the defense cooperation expansion signed by President Obama over the weekend, Israel is expected to acquire additional armaments from the US. All that remains to be seen is if this will include the new "Bunker Busters" revealed last week.

The US has recently introduced a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb into operational use, designated GBU-57B, which is intended to penetrate heavily fortified targets. Thus far, eight bombs have been acquired and another eight are expected to be ready for use by the start of 2013.

It seems that the bomb is primarily intended for Iran's nuclear facilities. Experts who analyzed the bomb's details based on open sources say that it is intended to be installed onboard the B-2 strategic stealth bomber.
According to foreign publications, any such aircraft can carry two such bombs, each weighing more than 13 tons. Most of the weigh belongs to the bomb's steel encasing, and it contains approximately 2.2 tons of explosives.


The experts assess that the bomb's breaching capability stands at approximately 60 meters of reinforced concrete. It is clear from these characteristics that the motivation for the development of this unique armament is the need to penetrate a limited number of "hard" targets. The timing of the publication and additional considerations direct the spotlight towards Iran's subterranean nuclear facilities.

According to the experts, the bomb's length is 6.25 meters, and its diameter is 800 mm. When dropped from a height of 40,000 feet, it hits the target at a velocity of approximately 450 meters per second, adding to its initial breaching capability prior to the detonation of the explosives.


The bomb is guided by the use of a GPS receiver integrated with data from an inertial navigation platform. According to the experts, this guidance system provides the bomb an accuracy CEP of 5 meters. The large fuse at the frontal part of the bomb is intended to withstand the shock of the impact. The experts assess that the bomb's flight range from the point it is dropped and until reaching the target is approximately 50 kilometers. The primary assessment is that the bomb's exposure is intended to deter Iran, and that it was developed specifically in order to breach Iran's subterranean nuclear facilities, if and when the US decides to attack them.