GBU-43/B MOAB

GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast
"The Mother Of All Bombs"
Type	Demolition bomb
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2003-
Used by	United States Air Force
Production history
Designer	Air Force Research Laboratory
Designed	2002
Manufacturer	McAlester Army Ammunition Plant
Produced	2003
No. built	17
Specifications
Mass	21,000 lb (9.5 tonnes)
Length	30 ft (9.17 m)
Diameter	40.5 in (102.9 cm)
Filling	H-6
Filling weight	18,700 lb
Blast yield	11 tons

The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) (colloquially known as the Mother Of All Bombs) is a large-yield conventional bomb developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts Jr. Once developed, it was 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.

The Russian "Father of All Bombs," tested in September 2007, has been claimed as four times more powerful than MOAB .

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.

Description

MOAB length is 30 feet (9.17 m), diameter is 40.5 inches (102.9 cm), weight is 21,000 lb. (9.5 tonnes), of which 18,700 lb. (8.4 tonnes) are high explosives. Blast radius is 450 feet (137.61m, 150 yards), though the massive shockwave created by the air burst is said to be able to destroy an area as large as nine city blocks. Due to its large size and weight, it must be dropped out of the back of a cargo aircraft, usually a C-130; however, a C-17 might also be suitable. It is guided by global positioning technology and does use a parachute to pull it out of the cargo door, so it can be dropped from a higher altitude and with higher accuracy than its predecessor, the BLU-82. It is the first U.S. weapon to use Russian-style lattice control surfaces (referred to as "Belotserkovskiy 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. At 1.35 times the power of TNT, H-6 is one of the more powerful explosives used by the U.S. military. H6 is an explosive combination of RDX (Cyclotrimethylene trinitramine), TNT, and aluminum. H6 is typically employed by the military for general purpose bombs, and is an explosive composition which is produced in Australia. H6 is a widely used main blast charge filling for underwater weapons such as mines, depth charges, torpedoes and mine disposal charges. HBX compositions (HBX-1, HBX-3, and H6) are aluminized (powdered aluminum) explosives mainly used as a replacement for the now obsolete explosive, known as torpex. 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. However, the MOAB bomb's yield is comparable to the smallest of nuclear devices, such as the M-388 Davy Crockett.

It was first tested with the explosive tritonal on March 11, 2003, at a test site in Eglin, Florida. Aside from two test articles, the only known production is of 15 units at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 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.

Evaluation of its utility

GBU-43/B on display at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

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.

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-16 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 areas.

See also

• Massive Ordnance Penetrator
• Father Of All Bombs

External links

• AFRL GBU-43/B MOAB - Designation Systems
• MOAB - Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb - Global Security
• DoD News Briefing 11 Mar 2003 - Test of a MOAB (RTSP stream)