According to US media reports recently, two members of the House of Representatives are preparing to introduce legislation that will allow the United States to provide Israel with its 13-ton GBU-57 large ground penetrating bomb (MOP). This ground-penetrating bomb was developed in the early 21st century and is a powerful underground bunker destruction bomb. If Iran seeks nuclear weapons that Israel considers to be a lethal threat, this weapon can be used to penetrate and destroy Iran’s underground nuclear facilities. The 6-meter-long, 0.7-meter-wide ammunition,
, was announced in 2011. According to reports, the Israeli government has repeatedly requested it in the past. And now this new legislation promoted by lawmakers will overturn the current federal law in the United States, which prohibits the sale of large ground-burrowing bombs for such bunkers. The new law also allows the transfer of large ground penetrating bombs, thereby helping Israel maintain its high-quality military advantage in the Middle East.
But if this bipartisan legislation is passed, there is an obvious question: how should the Israeli Air Force drop such a huge bomb? Because big bombs need big bombers. The Israeli Air Force is now equipped with American attack aircraft including F-35A, F-15E/I and F-16I, but as far as we know, none of these aircraft can carry large ground penetrating bombs.
In order to carry the 13-ton GBU-57 GPS-guided weapon, the U.S. Air Force’s own platform must be modified, including the B-2 stealth bomber. The modification of the B-2 fighter aircraft began in 2007. The Air Force confirmed this capability in a video of B-2 dropping bombs released in 2019. This video is clearly a reminder that the U.S. Air Force has such capabilities and has a large number of GBU-57 bombs on standby. But Israel does not, unless he uses platforms other than fighter jets, such as the C-130 transport plane to drop bombs.
In 2017, President Trump approved an attack on ISIS tunnels and personnel in the Achin region of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. It was carried out by an MC-130 transport aircraft carrying a GBU-43 large bomb. Can the Israeli Air Force modify a C-130 to carry a mop? It is possible, but the sky over Iran is heavily guarded, not the vast airspace over Afghanistan. C-130 is easily shot down.
In 2014, the retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula proposed in a review article to transfer GBU-57 bombs and a small amount of B-52H to Israel. Deptura is currently the dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Research. He pointed out that when he wrote this column, the United States was negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program. And he now believes that Israel’s acceptance of GBU-57 bombs and B-52 fighters will be written into the new legislation. The bill in the House of Representatives can of course be regarded as important information, because if Israelis do not have a platform to use the GBU-57 bomb, the value of the bill will be greatly reduced.
The use of GBU-57 large-scale ground penetrating bombs to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities will be an arduous task, requiring multi-domain and multi-dimensional operations with various effects. However, Israel has done things that many people thought was impossible before. In 1981, it bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq and in 2007 it bombed the partially completed reactor near Deir al-Zor, Syria.
Some people believe that the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft equipped by Israel can become the "strategic strike aircraft" that Israel needs. According to the official statement, the F-15E's maximum bomb load is only 8 tons, which is just over half the weight of the 13-ton GBU-57. However, the U.S. Air Force said that the F-15E has a maximum take-off weight of 36 tons and an empty weight of 14 tons. It can theoretically carry 22 tons of ammunition, including 13 tons of GBU-57. However, installing the GBU-57 on the central suspension point of the F-15E will bring size difficulties, but Israel has completed various "impossible" tasks before.
The U.S. Air Force declined to comment on whether the F-15E can carry a mop, and whether the U.S. Air Force has a contingency plan to deal with this situation. The Israeli F-15E’s indigenous weapon system, AESA radar, and data sharing/electronic warfare suite allow it to perform various complex tasks and refuel in the air. Or the message of the new legislation may be that Israel can obtain weapons like the US Air Force’s new penetrating ammunition, the Global Precision Attack Weapon. The GPAW bomb is a new stealth B-21 for the Air ForceThe attack bomber was developed, which is characterized by "capable of striking hard and deeply buried targets."
GPAW is likely to be a by-product of the ten-year-old Next Generation Penetration (NGP) ammunition concept. The military hopes that the size of the NGP is one-third the size of a mop, making it compatible with the F-35. Although GPAW will not be ready in a few years, the development of NGP may have produced a smaller ground-piercing weapon that already exists. The Israeli F-35 can also carry such weapons in the future. Another possibility is that Israel will import a new type of F-15EX fighter. The maximum bomb load of this fighter exceeds 12 tons, which is very close to the weight of the GBU-57 large ground penetrating bomb. If Israel has new fighters capable of carrying such bombs, will the United States use Israel to carry out military strikes against Iran?
