Nuclear Bunker Buster

The Nuclear Bunker Buster is the only Nuclear Weapon available for use in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview
"That's right, your very own WMD! Use with caution--the blast area on this earth penetrating weapon is simply ginormous."

- Stockpile caption

The Nuclear Bunker Buster is the most powerful airstrike in the Mercenaries series so far. It is basically a Bunker Buster with a small fissile payload, designed for particularly expansive, especially hardened or deep bunkers. The warhead detonates and expends most of its energy underground, though it still leaves an impressive area of devastation and supposed to leave some radiation. It is needed by the player to penetrate Solano's bunker in Angel Falls, the nuke is only offered by the two major superpowers, those being the Allied Nations (more specifically the CIA) and China.

Once the player completes the Battle for Caracas, Solano will nuke the Headquarters of the winning faction. The Faction leader will be forced to forfeit the weapon whether he planned on it or not. Once the game is beaten, the Nuclear Bunker Buster is available for sale from Eva at the PMC for $1,000,000.

For accuracy, just like with other laser-guided munitions, laser the target for as long as you can to make sure the bomb hits the exact point. For safety, stay far at least 50 meters from the impact area.



When you designate the area for the attack with the laser, Misha will drop it in, and obviously enough, it will penetrate the ground and will detonate shortly afterwards. The explosion raises a mushroom cloud into the sky, and detonating with extreme pressure which destroys almost everything within the immediate vicinity. The pillar of smoke remains for around 30 seconds, then begins to dissipate.

Specifications

 * Unlocked: Complete the Battle For Caracas
 * Cost: $1.0M at Eva's Shop
 * Guidance: Laser Designator
 * Fuel: 500 gallons
 * Delivery: MiG-27

Real Life
The Nuclear Bunker Buster is based on real world Nuclear Bunker Buster Munitions. The bomb itself is not seen as munition so it is very hard to tell which type of weapon it is. Nuclear Bunker Busters are relatively low yield nuclear weapons, they started being developed during the Cold War by the United States and Soviet Union to strike and destroy each other's deep underground and hardened Nuclear Bunkers. So far, they have never been used outside testing.

Trivia

 * Obtaining, making, and especially using Nuclear Bunker Busters would mean that the PMC could easily be labeled as a nuclear terrorist group under the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Terrorism.
 * Misha's MiG-27 would probably have to receive some modifications and a serious check and repair of flight systems to be able to deploy a Nuclear Bunker Buster.
 * The Nuclear Bunker Buster does not leave any radiation at all, unlike the nuke dropped by Solano, which covers the area, destroying all satellite coverage in the area. This is likely because the warhead detonates under the ground, as opposed to in the air, and the radiation and fallout are supposed to be minimal.
 * Interestingly, the nuclear explosion produces a mushroom cloud even though the explosion is below ground.
 * In the PlayStation 2 version, there is an existing blast radius that will kill you instantly, regardless of whether on foot or in the Diplomat Heavy Tank. the explosion is similar in design to that of the reactor meltdown from the Ace of Hearts mission in the first game, only significantly downsized. The only place to safely launch it from is a small outcropping, slightly above the bunker. It can only be used during the mission. You cannot purchase it. One more reason why the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are significantly better, along with the absence of spare parts, thus leading to the absence of several vehicles.
 * It is the most expensive air strike munition in the game, costing around twice as much as a MOAB, but it is definitely worth the price.
 * The Nuclear Bunker Buster has no shockwave whatsoever. As long as you are clear of the hypocenter, you will not take damage at all. However, being that it is a bunker buster type weapon, it creates an underground earthquake which destroys all buildings within a very large radius.
 * If you look carefully you will see that the munition that is deployed uses the same model as the bunker buster.