America’s most massive non-nuclear weapon is used for first time in combat on caves in Afghanistan
The United States has dropped its largest non-nuclear weapon after it targeted ISIS a network of caves and tunnels in eastern Afghanistan.
U.S. forces used a GPS-guided GBU-43 bomb, which is 30 feet long and weighs a staggering 21,600 pounds.
A crater left by the blast is believed to be more than 300 meters wide. It has been described as the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’ – a play on the ‘MOAB’ acronym, which actually stands for ‘Massive Ordnance Air Burst.’
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that MOAB is ‘a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon’ whose use was intended to collapse underground spaces used by ISIS terrorists to move freely and attack U.S. and allied troops.
The military used GBU-43 (pictured), which weighs a staggering 21,000 pounds, and has earned the moniker ‘Mother Of All Bombs’
‘The United States takes the fight against ISIS seriously, and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space – which we did,’ Spicer said.
The weapon’s sheer power produces a blast that can be felt miles away., largely because of its construction.
Engineers used an unusually thin aluminum skin to encase MOAB’s payload, in order to avoid a thicker steel frame interfering with the impact on a target.
The U.S. fast-tracked the MOAB in 2003 for use in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but the Defense Department later decided that the enemy provided too little resistance to justify its deployment.
In 2003, the US military successfully tested the weapon in Florida and sent a blast wave that could be felt more than a mile away
Its first practical test was carried out on March 11, 2003 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that the explosive colossus was dropped in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, making it the first time America’s largest non-nuclear weapon has been used in a combat situation.
It has been reported that a specialized MC-130 ‘Hercules’ cargo aircraft released the weapon at 7:00 p.m. local time.
Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said it was the first ever combat use of the bomb, which contains 11 tons of explosives.
Stump said the bomb was dropped on a cave complex believed to be used by ISIS fighters in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, very close to the border with Pakistan.