The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has completed a successful first explosive test of the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) conventional weapon, which is designed to defeat hard and deeply buried targets. DTRA, which conducted the test in its test tunnel on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, noted in its release that the MOP test had nothing to do with the cancelled Divine Strake experiment. The Air Force Research Lab’s Munitions Directorate at Eglin AFB, Fla., is working with DTRA on the massive penetrator program, which could lead to “potential acquisition of such a weapon in the future.”
Air Force Academy Keeps Majors Intact amid Faculty Cuts
Aug. 20, 2025
Twenty-five faculty members—about 5 percent—have left the U.S. Air Force Academy so far this year, including those who opted into the federal Deferred Resignation Program, retired, or were not renewed for another term. Nearly 10 percent of the academy’s 1,500 or so civilian jobs were identified for elimination in 2025,…