Posted on 04/13/2017 10:00:50 AM PDT by johnk
U.S. forces have dropped what is known as the "mother of all bombs" in Afghanistan. The device is the largest non-nuclear device in the Air Force arsenal, Fox News' Jennifer Griffin reported. It was dropped in Nangarhar Province, an eastern area near the Pakistan border. It's the first time the 21,000-pound ordnance has been used in combat, said Griffin. The device, developed in 2003 by the U.S. Air Force, is called the M.O.A.B, short for Massive Ordnance Air Blast. It's often referred to as the "mother of all bombs." Watch the report above.
(Excerpt) Read more at insider.foxnews.com ...
HOW ‘MOAB’ WORKS
Key stats:
Known as the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’
The U.S. military’s largest non-nuclear weapon
Each bomb costs around $16 million (£12.8 million)
Its explosion is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT and the blast radius is a mile wide
First tested by US forces in 2003
It is designed to destroy heavily reinforced targets or to shatter ground forces and armour across a large area
30 feet (9 meters) long and 40 inches (1 meter) wide
Weighs 21,000lbs (9,500kg) heavier than the Hiroshima nuclear bomb
Leaves no lasting radiation effect
How it’s deployed:
The bomb has grid fins that fold into the body and then open up in flight to help control its descent
It can only be deployed out of the back of a large cargo plane due to its size
The bomb rides on a pallet, a parachute pulls the pallet and bomb out of the plane
The pallet then separates so that the bomb can fall to its target
It accelerates rapidly to its terminal velocity and is partially guided to its target via satellite
It explodes six feet (1.8 meters) above the ground
The idea behind this ‘airburst’ mechanism is to spread its destructive range
Did you elect Trmp to sit on his hands and whine?
I voted for him to clean up the messes Hillary and Obama made which, because they screwed up so badly, which is going to require a few well placed bombs to save countless lives on the ground.
If he does it right, and thus far he has, he won’t have to do it very often.
‘Ef ‘em if they can’t take a joke!
Beautiful. Thanks.
Yes sir.. that’s MY President. MAGA!
Yeah good for us, not so good those throat slicing, child molesting, women abusing, demon possessed enemies of God and his creation.
From the news coverage, it’s not at all clear what munition was used.
The GBU-43 “MOAB” is designed for use against surface targets and is filled with a burster charge of 18,700 pounds of H6, a mixture of RDX, TNT, and aluminum. No thermobaric explosive involved (the latter are also called fuel-air explosives).
The GBU-57B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) weighs about 30,000 pounds and is designed to penetrate hardened or subterranean targets, delaying detonation until after penetration. Just the thing for mountain tunnel complexes. Its burster charge weighs some 5300 pounds, much less than that in the GBU-43. The additional weight can be attributed to an external case of much greater thickness (possibly of steel) than needed on MOAB.
Storage costs for these munitions are minimal. USAF owns a number of proper facilities, dating back to the days when the bomber force was much larger.
It was too big to drop from a traditional bomb-bay door or release from an aircraft wing, so 'we kicked it out the back door,' a U.S. official told Fox News.
that’s a good looking bomb!
“...meant as a warning to North Korea... “
That is a good point, this would be the best birthday celebration for Kimmy’s dead grandfather.
At the end of this birthday party, he could join his maniac grandfather in hell.
Yes, BALLS are back!
“What that thing?”
==
Sum Ting Go Boom.
Got some.
Fox Business reported the story about the Green Beret.
Careful what you say! Bill Clinton may want to date it.
“Political correctness in weapons naming.”
Heck, they can call it the TGOAB, Trans Gendered Of All Bombs as long as they take out the Nork bomb guys and their fat leader, Kimmie with it.
You’re right. It’s 30 feet long and 21K pounds.
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