Why the Pentagon is buying 30,000-pound bunker busters as Iran tensions rise

Amid high-tensions between the United States and Iran, the US Air Force has awarded Boeing a sole-source contract to replenish its arsenal of GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bombs. The US dropped over a dozen MOPs on Iranian nuclear facilities in June during Operation Midnight Hammer.

According to a partially redacted justification notice posted online last week, the US Air Force said that it was awarding Boeing the sole-source contract because “this procurement and sustainment activity is critically needed to replenish the inventory of GBU-57's, ended during Operation Midnight Hammer (21 Jun. 25).”

Boeing is the only company that makes the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the justification notice is intended to explain why the Pentagon did not carry out a fully competitive tender for the specially designed munition.

The defense giant has “uniquely acquired expertise over a period of 18 years of adapting this specialized weapon to meet evolving mission needs as MOP transitioned from proof-of-concept to Full Operational Capability,” the document said, adding that awarding the contract to any other company would have resulted in unacceptable delays. (Read More)