U.S. drops “mother of all bombs” on IS

The U.S. military has dropped America’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb on so-called Islamic State targets in Afghanistan. It is the first time this type of weapon has been used in battle

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GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB)

Weight: 9,800kg

Length: 9.45m

Payload: 8,452kg of high-explosive Tritonal – mixture of TNT (80%) and aluminium powder (20%)

KMU-593/B guidance section

Stabilisers

Delivery pallet


Extraction parachute


1. Delivery: Pallet deployed from rear cargo door of MC-130H or C-17 aircraft. Bomb is dropped from high altitude – out of range of ground fire, satellite guidance ensures accuracy

2. Delivery pallet and bomb separate. Stabilisers deploy to direct bomb

3. Detonation: Aluminium powder accelerates maximum explosive pressure and makes it 18% more powerful than TNT alone

4. Thermobaric explosion: Cloud ignites, creating fireball 1km in diameter
Shockwave: Blast pressure of 73kg/cm2 – close to that of tactical nuclear weapon

5. Burning of oxygen creates partial vacuum – air sucked in at ground level, smoke driven
up into mushroom cloud

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Sources: CNN, IHS Janes 360, Federation of American Scientists 

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