Explained Facts about Mother of All Bombs MOAB 1st time used by USA
Explained Facts about Mother of All Bombs MOAB 1st time used by USA
For the first time in history a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was used. The MOAB was used on an ISIS-K tunnel in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said Thursday that U.S. forces in Afghanistan dropped the military’s largest non-nuclear bomb on an Islamic State target in eastern Afghanistan. This is the first time a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) has been used in combat.
the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by ISIS fighters in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, very close to the Pakistan border.
"The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities," US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday.
"As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers, and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in the statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K."
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast MOAB commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs) is a large-yield conventional (non-nuclear) bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
MOAB is thought to be 'the most fearsome explosive weapon' in the Pentagon's possession and can penetrate through 60 meters of enforced concrete
The bomb was designed to be delivered by a C-130 Hercules, primarily the MC-130E Combat Talon I or MC-130H Combat Talon II variants.
Russia has tested its "Father of All Bombs", which is claimed to be four times as powerful as the MOAB
The concept behind the MOAB was first developed in the Vietnam War through the BLU-82B/C-130 weapon system, nicknamed the “Daisy Cutter.” That weighed 15,000 pounds and, with a huge blast radius, was used to clear jungles. In addition, it was a psychological weapon, in that the loud sound and huge flash helped create “shock and awe” in the enemy. The bomb was later used in Afghanistan. During the George W. Bush administration, the BLU-82B gave way to the even larger GBU-43, or MOAB.
The MOAB, also known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” was dropped out of a C-130 aircraft in Afghanistan for the first time on Thursday.
Moab was first tested back in 2003.
The MOAB had never been used in combat until now. It was brought into service in 2008.
MOAB was first tested with the explosive tritonal on 11 March 2003, on Range 70 located at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It was again tested on 21 November 2003.
Aside from two test articles, the only known production is of 15 units at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in 2003 in support of the Iraq War.
The MOAB weighs 21,000 pounds, including 18,000 pounds of explosives.
According to military information website Deagel, MOAB costs around $16 million (Rs 103 crore) per unit. So far, the US military has spent $314 million on the production of the explosive
It is the largest non-nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal.
MOAB explodes in the air, which creates air pressure that can make tunnels and other structures collapse.
Watch the video Testing Dropping of MOAB Bomb
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Friday, April 14, 2017
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