Posted on 04/13/2017 11:07:02 AM PDT by ColdOne
The most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. Military’s arsenal has been dropped in Afghanistan. It’s known as the Mother of All Bombs or MOAB. The official name of the weapon is the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb. CNN reports that it was dropped in the Achin district of Nangarhar, close to the Pakistan boarder at around 7 p.m. local time on April 13. It’s the first time the weapon has been used in the battlefield. There are no immediate reports of how many people have been killed.
The Air Force Times reports that the specific target was an ISIS tunnel complex in the region. The top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. John W. Nicholson, said in a statement, “As ISIS-K’s losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense. This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K.” While “ever precaution” was taken to avoid civilian casualties.
Here’s what you need to know:
(Excerpt) Read more at heavy.com ...
It is 31 feet long and 41 inches in diameter and no, it cannot fit in a conventional bomb bay. The USAF uses a C-130 to deliver it out the loading hatch.
With apologies, I looked at the two Internet addresses, and they were different. I did not realize these were presentations of the same video.
the MOP is the GBU-57A/B.
Is this MOAB also known as a “bunker buster” bomb ..??
I wondered about that when I saw it immediately turn nose downward .. ordinary bomb would often remain level .. but this one didn’t.
Curious.
MOAB is not a "bunker buster." It has a thin skin to save weight, in order to maximize explosive yield.
It has two probes that fit into receptacles in the nose. These contain pressure switches that are used to fire the charge before the main body of the weapon makes contact with the ground.
Its destructive power is in blast effect.
Of course, if it were to be targeted at something large and frangible, a great deal of shrapnel would undoubtedly issue forth at high velocity.
MCDonnel Douglass did the integration work to put it on the B-2 back in 2009. Finished 3 years early.
I was wrong about B-1and B-52 carrying it.
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