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The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, also known as the "Mother of All Bombs", has been dropped in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. It is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal.
The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission. A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB, was dropped at 7 p.m. local time Thursday, the sources said. [...] A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.
The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, according to the military sources. They said the target was an ISIS tunnel and cave complex as well as personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.
Gen. John Nicholson, Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]." The statement said U.S. forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties.
Also at Fox News. The bombing came days after the death of a Green Beret in the same province, but a defense official said the bombing was unrelated. Another official had this to say:
The MOAB had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane due to its massive size. "We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.
Update: The Afghan defence ministry says that 36 ISIS fighters were killed by the strike.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Friday April 14 2017, @06:37PM (1 child)
For a thermobaric device this actually is a good - and nasty - use.
Thermobaric devices kill you in one of two ways - either the shockwaves (yes, in confined spaces that is plural) or by drastically lowering the pressure around you.
So, first it will try to pulp you, the it will try to suck the air and liquids out of you (lungs bursting if you're lucky, if you're unluckly you'll end up deaf and blind), and if detonated in a non-open area it will pulse those a few times for 10 to 50ms. And to add insult to injury you'll probably end up breathing in superheated and toxic unburnt fuel.
Then you have to look forward to if something collapses on you or if the ground liquefies.
Oh yeah, and if you are in a tunnel that didn't collapse you also will have to look forward to being hit by scorching debris and superheated air from the direction of the blast, and cool stormspeed gravel and anything you didn't secure from the other side.
If it was less good at killing you fast it would have had a good case for being outlawed due to being too cruel.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:38AM
They're disgusting for using these things, and they're disgusting for giving a reason to use them.