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The US Defence Department on Monday said it wants to speed up production
plans for an enormous "bunker buster" bomb, amid international concern
over underground nuclear sites in Iran and North Korea. Published: 9:57PM BST 03 Aug 2009 The Pentagon has asked Congress for extra money to ensure the massive
ordinance penetrator (MOP) would be ready by July 2010, spokesman Bryan
Whitman told reporters.
"The department has asked for reprogramming of about $68 million to
start production for some of these in 2009," Mr Whitman said. "This will help it accelerate some if it's approved." The weapon, weighing in at 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilograms) and carrying
5,300 pounds (2,400 kilograms) of explosives, would be delivered by the
radar-evading B-2 Stealth bomber. The MOP is seen as a potential weapon against nuclear facilities in Iran
and North Korea that are mostly buried underground. Washington has demanded that both countries abandon their nuclear
programs and has refused to rule out possible military action. Mr Whitman declined to say why the military wanted to accelerate
production or whether the move was designed to pile pressure on Iran. He said the Pentagon since 2004 had been looking at developing weapons
"that would allow us to go after more hardened, more deeply buried targets." He mentioned that Pyongyang has sought to conceal its nuclear
activities. "One of the ways you hide is by going underground" and
fortifying sites, he said. Boeing builds the MOP, which could become the biggest conventional bomb
ever used by the US military. During a visit to the Middle East last week, US Defense Secretary Robert
Gates warned that Washington's diplomatic outreach to Iran was not
open-ended and said Tehran had until September to respond or else face
tougher sanctions. Many in the international community, including the United States and
Israel, widely considered the Middle East's sole – if undeclared –
nuclear power, suspect Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons under
the guise of a civilian nuclear program, a charge Tehran has denied. Tensions on the Korean peninsula meanwhile have soared following
Pyongyang's recent missile and nuclear tests, which resulted in tougher
UN sanctions and a renewed standoff with the United States.
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