GBU 43 B MOAB
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GBU-43/B MOABThe GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB, , colloquially explained as "mother of all bombs") is a large-yield bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory. It was first tested in 2003. At the time of development, it was said to be the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the American arsenal. The bomb is designed to be delivered by a C-130 Hercules, primarily the MC-130E Combat Talon I or MC-130H Combat Talon II variants. The bomb's name and nickname were inspired by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's invocation of the "mother of all battles" (Umm al-Ma'arik) during the 1991 Gulf War. The MOAB was first deployed in combat on the 13 April 2017 airstrike against an Islamic State – Khorasan Province tunnel complex in Achin District, Afghanistan.
Mushroom cloudA mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke, and usually condensed water vapour resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently energetic detonation or deflagration will produce a similar effect. They can be caused by powerful conventional weapons, including thermobaric weapons such as the ATBIP and GBU-43/B MOAB. Some volcanic eruptions and impact events can produce natural mushroom clouds. Mushroom clouds result from the sudden formation of a large volume of lower-density gases at any altitude, causing a Rayleigh–Taylor instability. The buoyant mass of gas rises rapidly, resulting in turbulent vortices curling downward around its edges, forming a temporary vortex ring that draws up a central column, possibly with smoke, debris, condensed water vapor, or a combination of these, to form the "mushroom stem". The mass of gas plus entrained moist air eventually reaches an altitude where it is no longer of lower density than the surrounding air; at this point, it disperses, drifting back down, which results in fallout following a nuclear blast. The stabilization altitude depends strongly on the profiles of the temperature, dew point, and wind shear in the air at and above the starting altitude.
BLU-82The BLU-82B/C-130 weapon system, known under program "Commando Vault" and nicknamed "Daisy Cutter" in Vietnam for its ability to flatten a section of forest into a helicopter landing zone, was an American 15,000-pound (6,800 kg) conventional bomb, delivered from either a C-130 or MC-130 transport aircraft or a CH-54 Tarhe heavy-lift helicopter from the 1st Air Cavalry. A total of 225 were constructed. It was successfully used during military operations in Vietnam, the Gulf War and Afghanistan. The BLU-82 was retired in 2008 and replaced with the more powerful GBU-43/B MOAB.
GBU-57A/B MOPThe GBU-57A/B MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) is a precision-guided, 30,000-pound (13,600 kg) "bunker buster" bomb used by the United States Air Force. The GBU-57 (Guided Bomb Unit-57) is substantially larger than the deepest-penetrating bunker busters previously available, the 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) GBU-28 and GBU-37. Due to its size (6 meters length and a weight of over 12 tonnes) it can only be carried by large bombers—for instance, the B-2 Spirit. It is designed to accomplish a difficult, complicated mission of reaching and destroying deep underground bunkers or an adversary's weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities.
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2017 Nangarhar airstrikeOn 13 April 2017, the United States conducted an airstrike in Achin District, located in the Nangarhar Province of eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. The airstrike was carried out using the largest non-nuclear bomb in the United States' arsenal, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), with the goal of destroying tunnel complexes used by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP). The bomb was dropped from the rear cargo door of a United States Air Force Lockheed MC-130. On 15 April 2017, Afghan officials reported that 96 IS-KP militants, including four commanders, were killed in the strike; this included Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Filipino nationals. According to an Afghan Army official, there were no civilian casualties.
Albert L. Weimorts Jr.Albert Lee Weimorts Jr. (6 March 1938 – 21 December 2005) was an American engineer who was known for his design of some of the most powerful conventional bombs for the United States Armed Forces. Notably, he created the GBU-43, or "mother of all bombs", which is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the inventory of the US Armed Forces, and earlier conceived of the GBU-28, both for use in wars in the Middle East. Weimorts died of brain cancer in 2005, not living to see use of the MOAB, though it would later be used in 2017 in Afghanistan.
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