The Air Force’s massive ordnance penetrator, or MOP, is a good first step at being able to destroy deeply buried targets beyond the reach of other bunker busters, says Lt. Gen. Phillip Breedlove, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and requirements. However, the MOP—a massive weapon of 15 tons—must be succeeded soon by weapons offering the same effect, but in a much smaller package, he told attendees at Thursday’s Air Force Association-sponsored Air Force Breakfast Series presentation in Arlington, Va. A next-generation penetrator munition, to be based on the hard target void-sensing fuze, should be “about a third” of the size of the MOP, so that “it can be carried in an aircraft we can afford to build,” said Breedlove. He encouraged industry contractors to get cracking on the future weapon, which will equip the Air Force’s next long-range strike aircraft.
Seven F-22 Raptor pilots have recently been awarded one of the military’s highest decorations for their actions during operations in the Middle East. Six of the pilots were decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.