GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
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The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) (also known as the Mother Of All Bombs) is a large-yield conventional bomb developed by the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts Jr. It is touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed (although the bunker-busting T12 was much heavier and carried almost as much explosive). It is also designated as the GBU-43/B. The bomb was designed to be delivered by a C-130.
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[edit] Development
The MOAB is an Air Force Research Laboratory technology project that began in fiscal year 2002, as a descendant of the BLU-82 "Daisy cutter". It underwent a successful field test at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida on March 11, 2003 and another in mid-November. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has said a larger version of the MOAB exists, weighing thirteen tons.
[edit] Description
MOAB length is 30 feet (10 m), diameter is 40.5 inches (102.9 cm), weight is 21,000 lb. (9.5 metric tons), of which 18,700 lb. (8.4 metric tons) are high explosives. Blast radius is 450 feet (137.16m, 150 yards). Due to its large size and weight, it must be dropped out of the back of a cargo aircraft, usually a C-130, but a C-17 could probably be used too. It is guided by global positioning technology and does not use a parachute, so it can be dropped from a higher altitude and with higher accuracy than its predecessor, the BLU-82. It is the first US weapon to use Russian-style lattice control surfaces (referred to as "grid fins") (like those used on the R-400 Oka and Vympel R-77). It is only slightly smaller than the Grand Slam bomb of World War II.
The MOAB uses 18,700 pounds of H-6 as its explosive filler.[1] At 1.35 times the power of TNT, H-6 is one of the more powerful explosives used by the US military. H6 is an Australian produced explosive composition. Composition H6 is a widely used main charge filling for underwater blast weapons such as mines, depth charges, torpedoes and mine disposal charges. HBX compositions (HBX-1, HBX-3, and H6) are aluminized (powdered aluminum) explosives used primarily as a replacement for the obsolete explosive, torpex. They are employed as bursting charges in mines, depth bombs, depth charges, and torpedoes. HBX-3 and H-6 have lower sensitivity to impact and much higher explosion test temperatures than torpex.
Although its effect has often been compared to that of a nuclear weapon, it is only about one thousandth the power of the atomic bomb used against Hiroshima: it is equivalent to around 11 tons of TNT, whereas the Hiroshima blast was equivalent to 13,000 tons of TNT.
It was first tested with the explosive tritonal on March 11, 2003, at a test site in Eglin, Florida.
[edit] Evaluation of its utility
The basic design is similar to that of the BLU-82 Daisy cutter, which was used in the Vietnam War and in Afghanistan, mostly for clearing of rocky or heavily wooded areas. Pentagon officials had, however, 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. One MOAB was reportedly shipped to Iraq, but was not used in the invasion.
The utility of the bomb for purely military objectives is limited, as it is used more for its psychological effect on an enemy's morale. The lethal blast radius is surmised to be approximately 400 feet (though the overall blast radius is a mile in each direction). Pound for pound, it is far less effective than cluster bombs. Second, the bomb is likely to cause significant collateral damage when used in proximity to civilians.
Nonetheless, the U.S Air Force conducted tests where subjects were shown videos of the MOAB explosion. Except for the nuclear scientists shown the video as a control group, all other test groups identified the explosion (incorrectly) as a nuclear blast. This demonstrated the MOAB's potential to inspire psychological terror.
The MOAB could also be effective against hard-target entrances such as caves or tunnels, and soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas. However, multiple strikes with lower yield bombs may be more effective as they can more precisely deliver the ordnance to the exact targets and can be delivered by fighter/bombers such as the F-15 with greater stand-off capability than the C-130. High altitude carpet-bombing with much smaller 2,000 or 1,000 pound bombs delivered via B-52s is also highly effective at covering large swaths of area.
