Boeing’s redesigned Massive Ordnance Penetrator is ready for “successful prosecution,” according to the most recent annual report to Congress from Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s top tester. The 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb underwent two sled tests at Holloman AFB, N.M., last summer “to confirm a successful redesign of a critical part of the weapon system,” states the 2012 report, submitted to Congress on Jan. 11. From June 2012 to October 2012, a B-2 stealth bomber successfully conducted five weapon drops—three with live warheads and two with inert warheads—at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., to further evaluate the MOP’s performance, states the report. “The sled test results and the additional weapon drops indicate that the weapon redesign is adequate for successful prosecution of all of the elements of the currently defined target set,” states the report. (DOT&E report) (See also MOP Up.)
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.