Massive Ordnance Air Blast

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast 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. At the time of development, it was touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed. 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.

MOAB officially stands for “Massive Ordinance Air Burst,” but many folks involved in the test program have begun referring to the weapon as “Mother of All Bombs.” While the test was reported to be a success, it’s too soon to tell if enough MOABs can be manufactured in time for use in any potential conflict with Iraq. However, there is no doubt that part of the reason for the timing of the test was to rattle nerves in Iraq. Since then, Russia has tested its Father of All Bombs, which is claimed to be four times more powerful than the MOAB.

It 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. A single MOAB was moved to the Persian Gulf area in April 2003 but it was never used. Since none of those are known to have been used as of early 2007, the U.S. inventory of GBU-43/B presumably remains at approximately 15.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

The basic operational concept bears some similarity to the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter, which was used to clear heavily wooded areas in the Vietnam War and in Iraq to clear mines and later as a psychological weapon against the Iraqi military. After witnessing the psychological impact of the BLU-82 on enemy soldiers, and not having any BLU-82 weapons remaining, the MOAB was developed partly to continue the role of intimidating the Iraqi soldiers. Pentagon officials had suggested their intention to use MOAB as an anti-personnel weapon, as part of the “shock and awe” strategy integral to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Unlike the Daisy Cutter, which is a free-fall (dumb) bomb, that descends attached to a parachute, the MOAB is a precision bomb guided by GPS (Global Position Satellite). After being pulled out of the cargo hold of the aircraft by a parachute, the parachute releases, and the GPS guides the bomb to the target destination. At a designated altitude, the MOAB sprays the area with a highly flammable mist, which is then ignited by a conventional explosive within the bomb. The results are a truly devastating explosion that can destroy tanks, buildings, and personnel in an area of several hundreds of meters.

The MOAB is not a penetrator weapon and is primarily intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas and targets in a contained environment such as a deep canyon or within a cave system. However, multiple strikes with lower yield ordnance may be more effective and can be delivered by fighter/bombers such as the F-16 with greater stand-off capability than the C-130 and C-17. High altitude carpet-bombing with much smaller 230 to 910 kilograms (500 to 2,000 lb) bombs delivered via heavy bombers such as the B-52 orB-2 is also highly effective at covering large areas.

The MOAB is described as “a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea. The gargantuan bomb is longer than 11 persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder or more than 20 feet base to nose. These are WMDs in the true sense of the word. The not so hidden objective of the “mother of all bombs” (MOAB) is “mass destruction” and mass civilian casualties with a view to instilling fear and despair.

Specifications

Weight: 10,300 kg (22,600 lb)
Length: 9.1885 m (30 ft 1.75 in)
Diameter: 103 cm (40.5 in)
Filling: H-6
Filling weight: 8,500 kg (18,700 lb)
Blast yield: 11 tons TNT