World - September 9, 2025

Replacement for the GBU-57 Super Bomb is already being developed.

team maverick September 9, 2025

0 3 min read

Sept 2025 : Applied Research Associates (ARA), an American Company which develops directed energy and other advanced weapon systems, announced that it had received a contract to develop and test the Next Generation Penetrator (NGP), which is to replace the massive GBU-57 anti-bunker bomb. ARA notes that it plans to develop and test small-scale and full-scale NGP mock-ups within 24 months. It is reported that not only ARA will work on the new NGP, but also Boeing, which will develop the tail section and guidance system.

Interestingly, the idea of a replacement for the GBU-57 began almost immediately after its introduction, namely in the 2010s. Some details about the future design of the NGP were made public in early 2024, which demonstrates to be as much as 22,000 pounds (about 9,979 kg) or less, while no information was made public about the total mass of the bomb. But for comparison, the mass of the GBU-57 MOP is 27,125 pounds (12,304 kg) in total, of which 5,342 pounds (2,423 kg) of explosives, that is, this is a very serious increase in power.

The guidance system must be extremely accurate even in poor or no signal conditions, to within 2.2 meters in 90 percent of cases. This is more than the JDAM, where the declared deviation under standard conditions is 5 meters, and in the absence of GPS up to 30 meters. Considering that in 2015 the US had only 20 GBU-57 bombs, and dropped 14 of them on Iran, the new NGP will likely be cheaper and designed for more mass production.

The same applies to their carriers; currently the US has only 20 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, which is clearly not enough for a full-scale war. Therefore, they want to order several hundred of the latest B-21 Raiders at once for 700 million each. The decision to buy more B-21 Raiders and develop a replacement for the GBU-57 was probably greatly influenced by Operation Midnight Hammer, which struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, as a result of which it seems that the US did not really “bomb” Iran.

Team Maverick