The United States announced Thursday that it dropped the largest non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal on an Islamic State target in Afghanistan.
The use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, also known as the MOAB, is the first time the weapon has been used in combat.
First debuting in 2003, the weapon’s development plan was accelerated by the Department of Defense with the intent to possibly use in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but due to the bomb’s considerable size, only special circumstances warrant its use. Following the invasion, it was deemed there was no target that would be appropriate for such a massive weapon.
Initial reports say that the General John Nicholson, commander of Operation Resolute Support and all US forces in Afghanistan was the approving authority for the use of the MOAB. The target was a cave complex in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The complex was reportedly well defended with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and personnel, and was deemed too risky to be cleared by soldiers on the ground.
The Islamic State has carved out a presence in Afghanistan emanating from Nangarhar Province. Multiple offensives have been launched by the Afghan government to eliminate their presence, with little success.
The MOAB is over 30 feet long and weighs 22,600 pounds, and is designed to be delivered via a C-130 or one of its variants, which are primarily used for transporting cargo, not for bombing targets. The sheer size of the MOAB necessitates its delivery in this fashion.
The blast from the bomb is roughly equivalent to 11 tons of TNT, and has a blast radius of one mile in every direction.
The MOAB’s spiritual predecessor, the Daisy Cutter bomb, had been used since the Vietnam war. There it was used to clear heavily forested areas instantaneously, as well as demoralize enemy soldiers. The bomb saw use during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan at the Battle of Tora Bora. It was retired in 2008 and replaced by the MOAB.
Image courtesy of Der Spiegel
Join our community. To comment on this article please join/login. Here's a sample of the comments on this post.
Thank you Mr. Allen for the report. Just reading through the descriptions of MOAB or Daisy Cutter sends enough chills down my spine. I pray God grant them ISIS bad guys peace of their souls...
. ,,,Prior to MOAB, the U.S. had what were called in Vietnam "Daisy Cutter" bombs. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dbd070f47c0c295368c4b180189e1361ef3019863d396fdc5dad22292d328e3b.jpg ...Idea was to drop it (from no lower than 6000 feet) onto mass of jungle/trees in a "likely spot" to create an LZ or a mobile fire base. ":...The BLU-82 was originally designed to clear helicopter landing zones and artillery emplacements in Vietnam. The first use of a BLU-82 occurred on 22 March 1970, when one was dropped north of Long Tieng, Laos during Campaign 139..." ...Some were used in Gulf War One. British SAS team deployed behind Iraqi lines saw one detonate at a distance and (not being aware that any were in Theater) thought that the U.S. had used a tactical nuke. The report shot up their chain of command... causing Her Majesty's Government to send an urgent inquiry to the U.S. government... -Yankee Papa-
Yeah, that will be one of those 401k's that you can't start withdrawing till you're like 110! OK, now I get it, I knew the 70's and sunny was too good to be true, the weather map didn't show the near hurricane force winds! If you had a big enough box kite, you could prolly make it to Winnipeg! Thanks, Sanmon!
It probably blew up tons of his stash stored in those tunnels. That is his 401k that is hard to get to now. Yep it was in the 70's here, winds were a casual 50 mph perfect day to let out a kite and see if you could hold on and fly into Canada. Now that the cars dropped into the lakes the new sport is kite flying.
Yes, MOAB sent a clear message of strength (hopefully that little porker in NK heard it!) and shows we have assets and have now a President who will let his military experts like Mattis and McMaster use them if they have clear and compelling reason. Oh that's right, I forgot about the opium trade! That's why Karzai is so foot stomping mad, the Mother probably blew up his poppy field! Hey, I saw the U.S. weather map yesterday, and it showed ND as being sunny and in the 70s! Is the National Weather Service trying to prank us?