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The Pentagon’s biggest bunker-busting bomb has been upgraded with one task in mind: taking out suspected Iranian nuclear facilities built deep under the mountains of the Islamic Republic’s northern region.

At 30,000 pounds, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator packs brute force and advanced features meant to enable it to destroy Iran’s most fortified nuclear site. The bomb is nearly a third bigger than the MOAB, or so-called “Mother of all Bombs,” the 22,000-pound previous generation of bunker busters first built in 2003 but never used outside of tests. Officials are confident the newest bunker-buster can dismantle even the deepest and most fortified nuclear facility.

via Bunker-busting behemoth: Pentagon upgrades bomb with Iranian nukes in mind | Fox News.

It’s a tad interesting that the Pentagon is touting the updates to the MOP as the supposed “deal” with Iran about their nuclear facilities is being touted as such a success.

One interesting tidbit they mention is the improved MOPs ability to penetrate defenses. One wonders how that works. The obvious launch platform is the B-2 Stealth bomber. Anything worth burying in a deep bunker is worth heavily defending with surface to air missiles. And so you need the B-2 just to get the bomb in range of the target.

But the bomb isn’t (likely) very stealthy. As soon as it is released, it is liable to being tracked and engaged. Mind you, the bomb casing itself is probably immune to virtually anything less than a direct kinetic impact. Even then, it could plausibly shrug off the hit. But the bomb also has some delicate features, such as its guidance vanes and GPS receiver.