U.S. Air Pressure acquisition paperwork present that Boeing is being contracted to replenish the stock of GBU-57’s expended throughout Operation Midnight Hammer.
The U.S. Air Pressure is requesting the approval to award Boeing a sole-source contract for the manufacturing of further GBU-57 Large Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) weapons. The 30,000 lb bunker busting bombs have been notably used final yr throughout Operation Midnight Hammer, which noticed seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropping 14 MOPs on Iranian nuclear websites on June 21, 2025.
As a matter of truth, the redacted Justification & Approval for Undefinitized Contract Motion (UCA) doc particularly mentions that the procurement of recent bombs is “critically wanted to replenish the stock of GBU-57s expended throughout Operation Midnight Hammer.” The contract will embody each MOP All-Up-Spherical (AUR) Elements and Tail Kits, with the latter having a “projected supply beginning 10 January 2028 to switch expended models.”
Particulars in regards to the procurement usually are not accessible, with the outline of the required provides being essentially the most closely redacted a part of the doc. Within the opening of the doc, the greenback worth of the acquisition was indicated at over $100 million, whereas particular particulars in regards to the exact worth, variety of weapons and timeline have been redacted.
Furthermore, the doc mentions the procurement of the alternative bombs is “important to revive operational readiness, [redacted], and guarantee Air Pressure International Strike Command (AFGSC) possesses the mandatory belongings to help strategic contingency warfare plans for all Combatant Instructions (COCOMs).”
Notably, the service beforehand hinted on the intention to accumulate new bombs in a funds reprogramming request in August 2025. In that doc, the Air Pressure talked about that funds have been required to switch a number of weapons used throughout Operation Midnight Hammer, together with GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs, AGR-20F Falco guided rockets and GBU-57 MOPs, the latter with a required funding of $123 million.
GBU-57 MOP
The GBU-57 Large Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is a 30,000-lb (14,000 kg), 20-foot lengthy GPS-guided bomb stated to have the ability to penetrate 200 toes of concrete earlier than exploding. The weapon is solely accessible to the B-2 Spirit, which might carry two MOPs in its inside bomb bay.
The event was commissioned following the 2003 Iraq Battle, the place current bunker buster bombs have been discovered to be insufficient for essentially the most hardened constructions. The U.S. Air Pressure describes the weapons’ perform as “reaching and destroying our adversaries’ weapons of mass destruction”.
This makes the GBU-57 the weapon of alternative in case of assault on buried targets, such because the Iranian bunkers the place the nuclear program was being labored on. As we beforehand reported, the 2 largest uranium enrichment websites in Iran have been the Gas Enrichment Plant at Natanz, positioned about three flooring underground, and Fordow, dug far deeper right into a mountain.
The secretive weapon has been upgraded within the early 2010s and, though the kind of upgrades it acquired weren’t made public, it was reportedly geared up with new fusing and tail fins wanted to provide it larger floor penetration. Sources report that the GBU-57 has GPS/INS steering and a big penetrator sensible fuse to permit the warhead to succeed in a set depth earlier than triggering the explosion.
Photographs of the MOP are fairly uncommon, with only some launched all through the years. In 2013, we printed right here an fascinating photograph of a B-2 sitting subsequent to a GBU-57. In December 2018, we discovered footage of a B-2 dropping a MOP in a video of the 393rd Bomb Squadron, one of many models that function the Spirit stealth bomber as a part of the 509th BW.
In April 2023, the 131st BW posted some pictures together with one depicting an inert GBU-57, used for coaching functions. A month later, the 509th BW posted new pictures, this time displaying a stay GBU-57.
Operation Midnight Hammer
Operation Midnight Hammer, the airstrike that took out two of Iran’s most hardened nuclear amenities, noticed greater than 125 plane, together with seven B-2 stealth bombers, sneaking into Iran whereas different B-2s have been despatched to Guam as decoys. As we reported in our articles on The Aviationist, the operation was a masterclass in precision and deception.
The assault got here as a shock as U.S. President Donald Trump stated, simply two days earlier, he would take two weeks earlier than deciding whether or not to assault Iran. Nevertheless, the operation was not the results of a last-minute resolution, however the end result of fifteen years of planning, intelligence-gathering, weapons growth, and coaching.
On June 21, 2025, at 6:45PM Japanese Time (2:15AM June 22 in Iran), a formation of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Pressure Base carried out the strike. The operation was described as the largest assault mission ever carried out by the B-2 Spirit and, with a continuous 36-hour spherical journey protecting greater than 13,000 miles, the longest B-2 mission because the opening of the Afghanistan warfare in 2001.
Consequently, fourteen GBU-57 bombs have been dropped on the Iranian nuclear amenities. All weapons functioned as meant, hitting their targets with full effectiveness, in response to officers.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth later defined that the strike sequence was designed for max penetration. The primary GBU-57 was used to breach a strengthened concrete construction, creating the central crater seen in satellite tv for pc imagery, whereas the remaining bombs have been delivered via the identical opening to make sure full destruction of the interior goal.
Moreover, a U.S. submarine within the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Space of Accountability (AOR) launched greater than two dozen Tomahawk land assault cruise missiles in opposition to key floor infrastructure targets at Esfahan. The Tomahawks have been the final to strike to make sure the strike package deal retained the aspect of shock all through the operation.
As frequent in such operations, fighter escorts and SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) belongings went forward to clear the trail for the bombers. The latter function was particularly assigned to F-35s, which have been the primary to penetrate Iranian airspace and used their stealth, radar, sensors and concentrating on techniques to detect and destroy surface-to-air threats.
