There aren’t a ton of images floating around of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator and its intended platform, the B-2 Spirit (often known as a the “stealth bomber”).
What sets the GBU-57 apart from its penetrator predecessors isn’t its ability to reach bunkers hidden deep underground — it’s the massive amount of firepower it delivers. At 30,000 pounds each, the GBU-57 can take out entire underground facilities. For a frame of reference, the previous bunker busters developed for the U.S. Air Force (the GBU-28 and GBU-37) both deliver a comparably modest 5,000 pound payload each.
Underground test detonation of a GBU-57 MOP at White Sands Missile Base (WikiMedia Commons)
The B-2 Spirit hardly needs any introduction. As America’s stealth, heavy payload bomber, the B-2 secured a place in the history books decades ago. Although it’s slated to begin being replaced by the forthcoming B-21 Raider in the coming decade, this video demonstrates clearly that the B-2 remains one hell of a war fighting airframe.
Watch the B-2 execute normal flight operations, including aerial refueling with its rotating dorsal receptacle that hides the fuel nozzle after it’s done, in the short video below. If you’re just here for the firepower, go ahead and skip to about 30 seconds in.
Feature image courtesy of YouTube