U.S. Awards Contract to Develop New Penetrator Anti-bunker Bomb

The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) has awarded Applied Research Associates (ARA) a 24-month contract to develop a prototype of a new Penetrator anti-bunker bomb.

The project aims to create a weapon, referred to as the Next Generation Penetrator, capable of destroying deeply buried and fortified targets.

Boeing has been named as ARA’s key partner in the program. The company will develop the tail module and handle integration of all munition components.

The new munition will build on ARA’s existing digital engineering capabilities, including model validation, navigation systems, warhead integration, prototyping, and manufacturing.

This contract comes after the U.S. confirmed its first combat use of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) on June 22 when B-2 bombers deployed the weapon against fortified targets in Iran.

The Next Generation Penetrator could potentially be deployed from the smaller B-21 Raider. Currently B-2 is the only aircraft authorized to carry MOPs.