GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator’s Replacement Prototypes Just Ordered By USAF
The GBU-57 MOP, made famous by the strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, is getting a replacement with prototypes now on the way.
Joseph Trevithick
Published Sep 8, 2025 1:19 PM EDT
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract for the development and production of a new Next Generation Penetrator (NGP) bunker buster bomb.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract for the development and production of a new Next Generation Penetrator (NGP) bunker buster bomb. NGP is the planned successor to the 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which became a household name after its first-ever real-world use against deeply-buried nuclear facilities in Iran during Operation Midnight Hammer earlier this year.
Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) recently announced that it had received the new NGP contract from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. ARA will be working on the new bunker buster bomb in close cooperation with Boeing, the current prime contractor for MOP. The stealthy B-2 bomber is currently the only aircraft cleared to employ MOPs operationally, and can only carry two of them on a single sortie. The future B-21 Raider stealth bomber is smaller than the B-2 and is expected to be able to carry a single MOP. Both the B-2 and B-21 could be in line to carry NGPs depending on when that munition is fielded. You can read more about the history of MOP in this past TWZ feature.
Under the 24-month deal, ARA will “serve as the System Design Agent for the development of a prototype air-to-ground Next Generation Penetrator weapon system,” according to a company press release. “ARA will also produce and test sub-scale and full-scale prototype munitions. This effort will evaluate capabilities against hard and deeply buried targets that pose critical challenges to U.S. national security.”
https://www.twz.com/air/gbu-57-massive-ordnance-perpetrators-replacement-prototypes-just-ordered-by-usaf
