U.S. Air Force Strikes Houthi Underground Weapons Storage Facilities with B-2 Bombers
October 17th, 2024Via: The War Zone:
The Pentagon is stating that B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, along with other U.S. forces, conducted a strike on Houthi underground weapon storage sites in Yemen. This it the first operational strike mission for the Spirit in years and the first into Yemen. It sends a very specific and powerful message that only the B-2 can to the Houthis’ benefactor, Iran.
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The DoD’s description of the targets is very important. “Hardened underground weapons storage locations,” followed by declaring “the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified.” This directly highlights the B-2’s special ability to carry out unique penetrating ‘bunker buster’ strikes, specifically via its ability to carry the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, better known as the MOP. Although it isn’t clear if this weapon was used, it’s certainly possible for a number of reasons, and that is really all that matters.
The MOP, weighing in around 30,000lbs, can only be carried by the B-2. Two can be lugged aloft by each of the stealth bombers at a time. These are highly specialized and prized weapons only available in relatively tiny numbers. MOP is able to penetrate deeper than any other conventional bomb on earth and is specifically designed and has been repeatedly upgraded to go after deeply buried, high-value targets, especially those in Iran.
Wow! Slo-mo video in the article shows B-2 dropping 2 of these huge 30,000 lb MOP bombs, one from each of B-2’s 2 weapons bays. The plane really jumps up in altitude due to 60,000 lb weight loss.