Officials: Bunker-Busting Bombs Need Upgrade

(FOX News) - The US military's Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs require an "urgent" upgrade, according to Pentagon officials who are trying to ensure that 20 of the giant bombs battle-ready.

The US Air Force developed the 15-ton (13.6-tonne) bombs in conjunction with Boeing to attack concrete bunkers and tunnel facilities, and the Pentagon has requested $81 million in reallocated funds from Congress to get it ready for use, FOXNews.com reported Friday.

Defense appropriators on Capitol Hill agreed to the request on Wednesday, just one month after Iran announced it would begin uranium enrichment at a hardened underground facility near the city of Qom in the Fardow mountain range.

The tunneled facility is thought to be beyond the range of the bunker buster in question -- the largest non-nuclear weapon in the Air Force's arsenal.

A Pentagon spokesman said the funding was needed to "make the system more survivable."

The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, is delivered by a B-2 or B-52 bomber plane. According to Boeing, it "allows the warfighter to hold adversaries' most highly valued military facilities at risk, especially those protecting weapons of mass destruction."

Publicly, the Air Force denies this weapon is being rushed for use in the Middle East. Air Force Chief General Norton Schwartz dismissed suggestions that the upgrades are tied to tensions with Iran.

Former Rep. Ike Skelton, who once served as House Armed Services chairman, was at the Pentagon on Friday to dedicate a new US Navy ship in the name of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

He was asked whether the MOP faced problems when his committee was responsible. He said, "no," adding that the US has the conventional firepower to stop Iran's nuclear program.

Read more: FOX News