Thread: MOAB Bomb Dropped in Afghanistan

All very well to have these things and use them where theres no opposition but they wouldnt get anywhere near a place with air defenses as they have to be dropped from bombers.

Still I suppose they have to use at least one to show the long suffering US tax payer that that their money being spent on developing these things is being well spent.

Let's just hope they actually managed to drop the thing on some bad guys this time.

Originally Posted by birding

but they wouldnt get anywhere near a place with air defenses

That's why the air force always takes out air defenses before bringing in the bombers.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Let's just hope they actually managed to drop the thing on some bad guys this time.

It is a humanitarian bombing.

(to relieve the people from their suffering 16 years ago)

Here's an MIC researcher explaining more on MOAB and how it works. I think it's from 60 Minutes.

It's a bit creepy.

Its all very phallic isn't it... the Yanks lap that stuff up

Originally Posted by baldrick

got to use it before it expires

it is expensive to decomission ordinance

bang on the money baldrick... the moab was to be decommissioned, cheaper to drop it out the back of a plane

Mother of all bombs laid to rest (MOAB a museum piece; played a psychological role in Iraq)
Sydney Morning Herald ^ | May 26, 2004 - 11:14AM

A massive weapon nicknamed Mother of All Bombs has become a museum piece, 15 months after it was tested to great fanfare as the war with Iraq loomed.

The military created 14 MOABs - officially an acronym for Massive Ordnance Air Blast - but none was used in the war.



There are no current plans to make more of the 21,000-pound (9,450-kg) bombs, the largest guided air-delivered munition in history, said Lt Col Mark Hunter, who led the team that designed, tested, built and delivered the bomb in only 14 weeks.

Hunter said the bomb played a psychological role in Iraq.

"These weapons cast a long shadow over our enemy by its very existence and proven capabilities," Hunter said as the nine-metre weapon was put on display.

Hunter later acknowledged he had no evidence to support his claim other than worldwide media coverage of the bomb's first test on March 11, 2003. It rattled windows kilometres away and kicked up a mushroom cloud on an Eglin test range.

"Certainly, that kind of discussion about a new weapon can have a detrimental morale impact on the enemy," Hunter said.

The one on display at Eglin's Air Armament Museum - painted bright green with a yellow nose and MOAB printed on the side in large white lettering - is an empty shell but could be removed from display, filled with explosive and put back into service if needed, Hunter said.

The first operational MOAB was deployed to the war theatre on April 11, 2003. By then the Iraqi military had crumbled and coalition forces were in Baghdad.

MOAB is a satellite-guided weapon intended to replace the 15,000-pound (6,750-kg) BLU-82, nicknamed Daisy Cutter, an unguided bomb that dates to the Vietnam War, where it was used to clear jungle for helicopter landing zones.

The Daisy Cutter also was dropped in the 1991 Gulf War to clear minefields and more recently to blast caves believed to be hiding terrorists in Afghanistan. MOAB can be used for similar targets.

Both weapons are too big to be dropped by conventional bombers. Instead, they are carried aloft in C-130 transport planes and pushed out the rear cargo doors.

AP

Originally Posted by Neo

The military created 14 MOABs - officially an acronym for Massive Ordnance Air Blast - but none was used in the war.

One in the oven and thirteen left to go.

Seems there were 20 of these things made at a cost of $314 million thats $16 million each and that does not include the cost of getting it to a target.

Here's how much the 'mother of all bombs' the US just dropped on Afghanistan actually cost - Business Insider

Also claimed that 'as many as' 36 ISIS were killed, thats $444,444 each.

U.S.'mother of all bombs' killed 36 Islamic State militants in Afghanistan

Do you US citizens on here consider that value for your taxes?

Drop the other 19 on N Korea or Mecca

Originally Posted by khmen

^^^Fair enough Bob, I wasn't aware of the symbolism of the particular area which has just been attacked. Thanks for the info.

So, effectively, are you saying that this MOAB was a purely symbolic attack to send a symbolic message, rather than one to counter a specific threat?

If so, then that obviously changes the entire dynamic, and this action becomes far more understandable. Wow . Mind=Blown.

I doubt it was purely symbolic, I would think it was more a retaliation for the ISIS-K attack on the hospital in Kabul last month. Trump is a sentimentalist.

Expanding the empire....

US military defends dropping 'mother of all bombs' on ISIS in Afghanistan

(CNN)The US military has defended its decision to drop the country's most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS positions in Afghanistan, describing it as a "tactical" move.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) was dropped Thursday night on a network of fortified underground tunnels that ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces.
The strike, in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border, also killed 36 ISIS fighters, Afghan officials say.

The US military was quizzed Friday on whether the munition, known as the "mother of all bombs" for its extraordinary force, was necessary for the particular target.

The GPS-guided bomb is capable of destroying an area equivalent to nine city blocks.
"This was the right weapon against the right target," the commander for US forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a press conference.
"It was the right time to use it tactically against the right target on the battlefield."
The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials have said.

The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area, but was unclear whether they had hoped to strike more fighters.

Afghanistan: US defends dropping 'mother of all bombs' - CNN.com

BTW, the MOAB is the second biggest conventional bomb in the US arsenal, not the biggest. Of course second biggest doesn't look so good in the headlines and Mother of all Penetrators probably doesn't convey the sort of message the US military are trying to send.

The weapon is a bunker buster, it collapses caves, the Israelis couldn't take out the Lebanese under ground missile sites, or the Iranian nuclear sites too deep for conventional bombs.

North Korean has everything in it's nuke program underground, what the US and Trump are saying, is we can.

You can go deep, but we can close the tunnels, dig them up and a missile daily can keep them closed.

Really comes down to, I've got a bigger stick than you and I will use it.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials have said.

Good.

i thought trumpettes lambasted Hillary for being a warmonger.

Trumps only trying to end the wars Hiliary started.

Afghan Government Says 36 IS Members Killed in MOAB Bombing

Afghanistan says a massive bomb dropped Thursday by a U.S. warplane killed 36 members of Islamic State group and destroyed a large cache of weapons.

A statement released by the Afghan defense ministry Friday said there were no civilian casualties in this attack. The 10,000-kilogram GBU-43 bomb, known as "the mother of all bombs" (MOAB), was dropped on an Islamic State bunker complex in northeastern Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan Thursday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said the operation took place in coordination with the Afghan Security and Defense Forces. It added that the Afghan forces are also collaborating with NATO's Resolute Support mission to fight against other terrorist groups.

VIDEOS HERE Afghan Government Says 36 IS Members Killed in MOAB Bombing

Originally Posted by wasabi

Trumps only trying to end the wars Hiliary started.

Hillary started the war in Afghanistan? Those are some alternate facts there.

Originally Posted by wasabi

Trumps only trying to end the wars Hiliary started.

HILLARY started???
I think you'll find it was bush (Cheney) who started all this.

Such a waste keeping 19 more just sitting around. Do these things have a "best before" label on them.

So much need around the world for really great bombs like this. The US could even give some away as foreign aid. People like big explosions.....movies for years have used lots of pyrotechnics because it entertains the masses. Blowing shit up is just fun.... as long as you don't get too close.....

Maybe they should offer a few on Ebay as well.....with a choice of colors......

Originally Posted by misskit

Afghan Government Says 36 IS Members Killed in MOAB Bombing

Afghanistan says a massive bomb dropped Thursday by a U.S. warplane killed 36 members of Islamic State group and destroyed a large cache of weapons.

A statement released by the Afghan defense ministry Friday said there were no civilian casualties in this attack. The 10,000-kilogram GBU-43 bomb, known as "the mother of all bombs" (MOAB), was dropped on an Islamic State bunker complex in northeastern Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan Thursday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said the operation took place in coordination with the Afghan Security and Defense Forces. It added that the Afghan forces are also collaborating with NATO's Resolute Support mission to fight against other terrorist groups.

VIDEOS HERE Afghan Government Says 36 IS Members Killed in MOAB Bombing

Its bullshit. How can they know the exact number if a) the bunker system was collapsed and b) the second biggest bomb in the US arsenal turned them into mincemeat.. ?

Originally Posted by wasabi

Trumps only trying to end the wars Hiliary started.

Are you trolling, or do you really believe that bullshit?