Senior U.S. Official: Pentagon Tested Upgraded and Bigger 'Bunker Buster' Bomb in Mid-January ... Just in case?

The Pentagon has upgraded and tested the largest bunker-buster bomb in the U.S. arsenal, senior U.S. officials said, readying a weapon that could destroy or disable Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear facilities should a nuclear deal fall apart and the White House decide to take military action.

The Pentagon has upgraded its Massive Ordnance 
Penetrator, shown here in a 2007 version, as talks were 
progressing in recent months on Iran’s nuclear 
program. AP

Even while the Obama administration was pursuing a diplomatic agreement with Iran to rein in its nuclear program, the Pentagon was readying the improvements to one of its most destructive conventional weapons, including electronic countermeasures to prevent an adversary from jamming its guidance systems.

“The Pentagon continues to be focused on being able to provide military options for Iran if needed,” a senior U.S. official said. “We have not taken our eyes off the ball.”

30,000 lb GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, built 
for carriage by the B-1B, B-2A and B-52H (Boeing).

Work on the bunker buster started before the current round of talks with Iran got under way. But the most recent testing took place mid-January, when the upgraded bunker buster was dropped at a testing site at an undisclosed U.S. location by a B-2 bomber that took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, officials said.

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The Wall Street Journal reported in 2012 that Pentagon war planners had concluded that the 30,000-pound bunker buster wasn’t powerful enough to destroy certain hardened Iranian nuclear facilities and ordered steps to be taken to upgrade the bomb’s design and guidance systems. In 2013, the Journal reported the weapon was being redesigned

The weapon was last tested in recent months, including in January, and senior officials say the results show the bomb—when dropped one on top of the other—is now more capable of penetrating fortified nuclear facilities in Iran or in North Korea.

Officials said work on improving the MOP is continuing, but the weapon has performed well in the tests, allaying the concerns officials had two years ago.

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