Trump to strike North Korea? Upgrades 30,000lbs 'Penetrator bomb' capable of reaching Kim
THE US has upgraded its largest non-nuclear bomb, a 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” which can only be carried by B-2 stealth bombers – the fighter jets Donald Trump has repeatedly sent to North Korea.
The Doomsday Clock time was moved 30 seconds closer to midnight by scientists yesterday after experts warn humanity edges towards destroying itself with "nuclear weapons taking centre stage”.
Now the US Airforce has confirmed the fourth upgrade to its Boeing GBU-57 bomb has been completed and the military’s current inventory is being retrofitted.
Captain Emily Grabowski, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the modification “has improved the performance against hard and deeply buried targets”.
The GBU-57, also known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is bigger than the 21,600-pound bomb the US dropped on ISIS last year.
The 20.5-foot-long bomb carries more than 5,300 pounds of explosives and is guided by GPS satellites, according to Pentagon’s Defence Threat Reduction Agency website.
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It could be used if the US launched an attack on North Korea and is capable of hitting underground nuclear or missile facilities, should the need arise.
Three B-2 bombers were deployed to Guam this month in a planned rotation, but Ms Grabowski declined to say whether the GBU-57 had also been sent to the territory.
Following tests of the weapon in May last year, the Pentagon deemed the bomb effective “when paired with proper tactics, techniques, and procedures”.
In May, the Air Force dropped three of the bombs from B-2 bombers over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said that the GBU-57 bomb “is primarily intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas, targets contained in an environment such as caves or canyons, clearing extensive mine fields, and for psychological effects”.
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