What is Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb?
The US Forces used the most powerful non-nuclear weapon on the ISIS-K groups - former members of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, tunnel complex in Achin district, Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
Apparently, GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), has a capacity/blast yield of 11 tons in comparison, to the 'Little Boy', the nuclear device dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, that had 15 kilotons of blast yield and Fat Boy, dropped on Nagasaki, a 21-kiloton bomb.
Which in simple terms mean, MOAB is categorised as one of the largest destructive or high-impact non-nuclear bombs after the two nukes used by the US.
However, the level of impact is not clear yet. Online reports say that the bomb vaporises and carbonates everything within the first 30 feet of its detonation radius. Further, as the bombs generally operate, it would suck out all the oxygen from the tunnels, suffocating the militants in their hideouts.
Key facts about MOAB - The Mother Of All Bombs
1. The US Air Force named the GBU-43, the MOAB - Massive Ordnance Air Blast. It had been nicknamed the "Mother Of All Bombs" because it was the most powerful non-nuclear bomb that the US had possessed.
2. The Munitions Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in developed this bomb in 2003 within a short period of 9 months.
3. The MOAB was used in Afghanistan to target the cave complexes and hideouts OF ISIS-K militants was a 9,797 kg GPS-guided ammunition and measured about 20-feet-long and could burrow through 200-feet of earth and 60-feet of the concrete floor before exploding.
4. The primary plan was to develop a guided ammunition which could impact as hard as the unguided BLU-82/B bombs, which weighed in at 6,800 Kg.
5. The Mother of All Bombs was tested in the year 2003 during the time the US had invaded Iraq. Further, during the test, a bevy cloud was seen in the test area similar to the nuclear ones.
6. The bomb was designed to be delivered by a C-130 Hercules, primarily the MC-130E Combat Talon I or MC-130H Combat Talon II variants. These are capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings and originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft.
7. Reports say that it is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever designed. However, MOAB apparently is not the largest non-nuclear bomb ever developed. Russia in 2007 tested the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power - 4 times powerful than MOAB and nicknamed it -" Father Of All Bombs".
8. According to the US defence website, the attack occurred at 7:32 p.m (local time) on April 13, 2017.