The Boeing has been awarded a contract exceeding $100 million to provide Guided Bomb Units and GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons to the United States Air Force.
According to a partially redacted sole-source justification and approval document, the procurement is considered “critically needed” to replenish stockpiles depleted during Operation Midnight Hammer, the Pentagon’s 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Officials concluded that Boeing is the only manufacturer capable of producing the precision-guided air-to-ground munition, and sourcing from another supplier would create unacceptable delays. The contract covers additional tail kits and complete all-up-round components, with deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2028. The total number of weapons ordered was not disclosed.
During Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, B-2 Spirit aircraft dropped 14 GBU-57 bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites, marking the weapon’s first combat deployment.
Weighing 30,000 pounds (13,608 kilograms) and measuring 21 feet (6 meters) in length with a 32-inch (81-centimeter) diameter, the GBU-57 is equipped with a GPS-guided Bomb Live Unit or BLU-127/B penetrator warhead.
Transition to Next-Generation Systems
US officials indicated that production of the GBU-57 MOP will end once the latest contract is fulfilled, as the military pivots toward the development of the Next-Generation Penetrator (NGP).
The NGP initiative will proceed under a full and open competition model, encouraging independent design, modification, and enhancement of hardware, software algorithms, and interface systems for future penetrator weapons.
Although specific details about the NGP remain classified, a recent Air Force request for information revealed that the service is seeking a warhead weighing less than 22,000 pounds (9,979 kilograms) capable of delivering blast, fragmentation, and penetration effects, along with improved detonation precision.
