GBU-43 / B Massive Ordnance Air Blast

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GBU-43 / B Massive Ordnance Air Blast

MOAB bomb.jpg

General Information
Type Aerial bomb
Country of origin United StatesUnited States United States
Manufacturer Munitions Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
development 2002
Commissioning 2003
Working time In service
Unit price $ 170,000
Technical specifications
length 9140 mm
diameter 1030 mm
Combat weight 9550 kg
Furnishing
steering Inertial Navigation Platform & GPS
Warhead BLU-120
Weapon platforms Transport plane
Lists on the subject

The United States Air Force's GBU-43 / B Massive Ordnance Air Blast ( MOAB abbreviation : Mighty Air Explosion Weapon , also known as Mother of All Bombs ) is the most powerful conventional aerial bomb in the arsenal of the US armed forces . It contains 8.48 tons of explosives and develops a nominal explosive force of 11 tons of  TNT equivalent and a blast radius of 150 meters.

The acronym MOAB was subsequently interpreted as the backronym mother of all bombs ("mother of all bombs"), based on the expression "mother of all battles" coined by Saddam Hussein in the Second Gulf War .

The MOAB was the world's largest bomb of its kind until the “ father of all bombs ” was detonated in Russia in 2007 , a bomb with 44 tons of TNT equivalent.

development

The MOAB is the successor to the Daisy Cutter (BLU-82B) used in Vietnam , 1991 in Iraq and most recently in Afghanistan , which is filled with approx. 5.7 tons of explosives. This was originally used to blow up landing zones for helicopters in the jungle ; but it was also used against caves and troop concentrations and testing purposes to areas of minefields .

At the beginning of 2002 the Air Force Munitions Directorate examined the possibilities of equipping the BLU-82 with a control system. With the precision-guided ammunition , the carrier aircraft could fly significantly higher and thus avoid the danger of the explosion and fire from the ground. After a few iterations, a design was created with a significantly more aerodynamic shell than the BLU-82. The project took nine months from tender to test, and the actual development of the bomb took nine weeks. The bomb should then be ready for use in the upcoming Iraq war ; but it was not used in this war.

The MOAB was tested for the first time on March 11, 2003: This was a Lockheed C-130 on the test track (Eglin Test Range) of the Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base in Florida from Eglin's 46th Test Wing dropped. This test took place in connection with the Iraq crisis in order to impress the Iraqi armed forces (see Show of Force ). It was developed for use against large gatherings of troops and bunker systems , but probably also because of the psychological effect on the enemy, as it would be superior to any other non-nuclear weapon system for conventional tasks.

Size and structure

With its shell, it weighs 9.55 tons, has a diameter of 1.03 meters and a length of 9.14 meters. The bomb consists of two main components, the warhead BLU-120 / B and the control unit KMU-593 / B GPS / INS.

The BLU-120 warhead has a filling made of the mixed explosive H6: This consists of hexogen (cyclotrimethylene trinitramine), also known as RDX, which is additionally enriched with tritonal . Tritonal is a mixture of aluminum powder and TNT ( trinitrotoluene , trotyl). This explosive is more expensive to manufacture than the GSX ( gelled slurry explosive ) mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder used in the BLU-82B, but it is also more effective. The effect is mainly based on the fact that the bombs in question do not just explode on the ground, but just above it, creating an enormous pressure wave , the so-called Mach wave , near the earth's surface.

In addition, the size of this bomb has an effect in terms of psychological warfare .

Unit price

After its first use in April 2017, a unit price of 16 million US dollars was mentioned in the media, but was later corrected to 170,000 US dollars.

use

GBU-43 / B in the Air Force Armament Museum , Eglin Air Force Base , Florida

Due to its large dimensions, the MOAB can only be accommodated in the hold of the Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft . The weapon rests there on a slide. A small braking parachute is used to pull the sled with the bomb out of the aircraft, which is then released together with the parachute. The MOAB is thrown from a great height and guided to its destination by satellite control with the help of an inertial navigation platform and the Global Positioning System (GPS). It is controlled via grid fins , which unfold after being released. Two solid small wings provide additional stability during the fall. The drop can be made about 5.5 km from the target.

Calls

Video showing the April 2017 explosion in Afghanistan.

The first combat mission took place on April 13, 2017 in Afghanistan . The attack was ordered by US General John Nicholson , Commander in Chief of the US Forces in Afghanistan. The bomb was dropped from a Lockheed MC-130. The target of the air strike were supporters of the “ Islamic State ” (IS) in a tunnel system in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in the east of the country. It is not known why the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which was actually designed for such operations, was not used. According to local authorities, at least 94 jihadists of the “Islamic State” were killed in the bombing . According to statements by local Taliban fighters, there were no IS fighters there at the time of the drop. A later independent analysis revealed the destruction of buildings within a 150 meter radius of the explosion point; The analysts found no traces of an initially reported crater with a diameter of 300 m.

Pope Francis responded to the drop in May 2017: “I was ashamed when I heard the name of the bomb - 'the mother of all bombs'. A mother brings life and this bomb brings death. And we call this gun a mom? What's going on there?"

Long-term effect

The long-term effects of the bomb are described by the Afghan military analyst Atiqullah Amarkhil as follows: "The bomb affects the eyes. Those affected feel irritation in the field of vision. In addition, there are effects on the internal organs. This becomes clear when one looks at the air in the detonation area Inhaled. Effects on pregnant women and newborns are also noticeable. "

See also

Other large bombs not mentioned in the article:

Web links

Commons : GBU-43 / B Massive Ordnance Air Blast  - Collection of Images and Videos

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b badische-zeitung.de , April 15, 2017, Willi Germund: A huge bomb with a questionable message (April 15, 2017)
  2. ↑ a b How much the US's 'mother of all bombs' really costs . In: Business Insider Germany . ( businessinsider.de [accessed April 19, 2017]).
  3. ↑ augsburger-allgemeine.de: MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS: MOAB: This is the largest non-atomic bomb in the USA
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h MOAB at: GlobalSecurity.org
  5. ↑ Dirk Scheuring: Kabummski, father of all bombs. Russia's military demonstrates technological innovation. In: Telepolis . Verlag Heinz Heise , September 15, 2007, accessed on April 14, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Report at Netzeitung about the bomb ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  7. ↑ Afghanistan: USA drops “mother of all bombs” for the first time. In: Welt Online . April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
  8. ↑ The "mother of all bombs" dropped by the USA for the first time kills 36 IS fighters. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . NZZ Group, April 14, 2017, accessed on April 14, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Drop over Afghanistan - USA detonate “mother of all bombs”. In: n-tv.de . April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
  10. ↑ US air attack in Afghanistan "Moab" bomb death toll increases , spiegel.de
  11. ↑ Number of IS fighters killed by US non-nuclear 'Mother Of All Bombs' jumps to 94: Afghan official. financialexpress, April 15, 2017, accessed April 15, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Emran Feroz: In the shadow of the megabomb. In: The daily newspaper . June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017 .
  13. ^ Sune Engel Rasmussen: "Questions for US military after doubt cast on efficiency of Afghan bombing" The Guardian of April 5, 2017
  14. ↑ https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Wie-die-Mutter-aller-Bomben-Afghanistan-verseucht-hat-4660530.html?wt_mc=rss.red.tp.tp.atom.beitrag.beitrag