Biggest ever
The US military has dropped the biggest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on an Islamic State group tunnel complex in Afghanistan, the Pentagon says.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), known as “the mother of all bombs”, was first tested in 2003, but had not been used before.
The Pentagon said it was dropped from a US aircraft in Nangarhar province.
The news came hours after the Pentagon admitted an air strike in Syria mistakenly killed 18 rebels.
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The 21,600lb (9,800kg) bomb was dropped in Achin district on Thursday evening local time, the Pentagon said. It is more than 9m (30 feet) in length.
“We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters use to move around freely, making it easier for them to target US military advisers and Afghan forces in the area,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, using another name for IS.
Headlines say the stock market has fallen.
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944.71555.144310995587370/1504444996240623/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944.71555.144310995587370/1504446289573827/?type=3&theater
What’s the betting Trump was having fantasies about being able to say: “I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure”?
Anyone know why the US is still in Afghanistan? The coalition partners declared victory and left years ago.
I was pretty sure that we had viable alternatives to tac nukes…
“Air Force Bombs Friendlies” is kind of dog bites man news though…
Relax everyone, the US regularly tests its latest weapons on Third World countries. It’s just a modern version of the “earthquake bombs” used by the Allies to destroy Nazi bunkers during WW2. Nothing to worry about, really.
No, it isn’t like the vast bombs the RAF dropped to try to shatter highway and rail structures in the latter stages of the war. But the ‘fuel air’ thing has been around for 50 years or so. I remember sciency news reports about this one from more than 10 years ago.
So why is the eventual use of such a thing worth reporting with such avidity? Its certainly worth some note that this thing was taken out of mothballs and actually dropped. Whether the decision had anything to do with some ‘executives’ anxiety about size is another matter.
The Guardian’s reporting that the “mother of all bombs” killed 36 militants. At $16 million per bomb, that puts the cost of each dead militant at $450,000. No wonder America sucks at war.
John the Drunkard,
Yes, you’re correct, Perhaps the US airforce is sending a message to someone some where, or perhaps some generals just got bored.