B-2 to get 30,000 pounders.

Northrop Grumman has commenced work on integrating Boeing's new 30,000-pound (13,600 kg) Massive Ordnance Penetrator (Mop) weapons into the US Air Force's B-2 stealth bombers. Under a seven-month, $ 2.5 million contract Northrop Grumman will adapt the weapon bay fixtures to accommodate the new ordinance--currently the B-2 bays can handle 18,000 kg total or can be configured with a 'smart bomb rack' that allows carriage of up to 80 500-1b (230-kg) GPS-guided bombs. The Mop is a GPS-guided weapon containing more than 2400 kg of conventional explosive inside a 6.2-metre-long enclosure of hardened steel for attacking bunkers and tunnels. The B-2 is capable of carrying one Mop in each weapons bay.