[Jpost] The US Air Force has awarded defense firm Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Boeing a two-year contract to design and prototype the next generation of bunker-busting bombs, designed to be smaller yet more lethal than the one that struck a key Iranian nuclear facility in June.
According to a statement by ARA, the company was awarded a 24-month contract by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Munitions Directorate, to serve as the System Design Agent for the development of a prototype air-to-ground Next Generation Penetrator weapon system.
Boeing, which originally made the BGU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), will team up with ARA for the new munition. ARA will lead design maturation, while Boeing will drive the tail kit development and support all-up round integration. ARA will also produce and test sub-scale and full-scale prototype munitions.
| No doubt the improved bombs will be used on other things than Iran’s nuclear bomb facilities…eventually. |
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