US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan

[HAPPY2BME]

The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.

A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB, was dropped at 7 p.m. local time Thursday, the sources said.
The MOAB is also known as the "mother of all bombs." A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, according to the military sources.

They said the target was an ISIS tunnel and cave complex as well as personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.

The military is currently assessing the damage. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb, according to the sources. Authority had to be sought from Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command.

This is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to the US officials. This munition was developed during the Iraq War.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/politics/afghanistan-isis-moab-bomb/index.html

[HAPPY2BME]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9H50tHiHjs[/youtube]

[HAPPY2BME]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzILtqx8n8E[/youtube]

[HAPPY2BME]

The problem is in the deployment platform - a dog slow huge target C-130.

[dutch508]

The problem is in the deployment platform - a dog slow huge target C-130.

good thing that ISIS and the taliban aint got shit for anti-air, eh?

[HAPPY2BME]

good thing that ISIS and the taliban aint got shit for anti-air, eh?

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yes, and another reason why neither China or Russia blinks an eye at it

[HAPPY2BME]

Donald Trump Comments On Dropping Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb In Afghanistan

Donald Trump described the dropping of the GBU-43 bomb as “another successful job” by the military.

Just minutes after news broke that the U.S. military had dropped the “mother of all bombs” — the biggest non-nuclear weapon — on an ISIS cave complex in Afghanistan Thursday, the president dismissed the idea that it was meant to influence North Korea.

“Really another successful job,” Trump said from the White House. “We’re very, very proud of our military. We are so proud of our military and it was another successful event.”

“I don’t know if this sends a message, it doesn’t make any difference if it does or not. North Korea is a problem, but the problem will be taken care of.”

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/13/donald-trump-comments-on-dropping-largest-non-nuclear-bomb-on-afghanistan/#ixzz4e9u3Tx1b

[BlueStateSaint]

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yes, and another reason why neither China or Russia blinks an eye at it

I thought that the B-2 Spirit has been modified to carry them.

[HAPPY2BME]

I thought that the B-2 Spirit has been modified to carry them.

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Looks like it likely has been fitted (though not listed).  It is a 'bunker buster' designed specifically for that purpose during Desert Storm (but never used until today).  I don't know how much one of these costs, but I'm thinking the target it hit was not worth the price.  These were designed to take out modern hardened C&C. 

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The B-2 is capable of carrying 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) of ordnance.[7][77] Nuclear ordnance includes the B61 and B83 nuclear bombs; the AGM-129 ACM cruise missile was also intended for use on the B-2 platform.[76][78]

It was decided, in light of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, to equip the B-2 for conventional precision attacks as well as for the strategic role of nuclear-strike.[74][79] The B-2 features a sophisticated GPS-Aided Targeting System (GATS) that uses the aircraft's APQ-181 synthetic aperture radar to map out targets prior to deployment of GPS-aided bombs (GAMs), later superseded by the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). In the B-2's original configuration, up to 16 GAMs or JDAMs could be deployed;[80] an upgrade program in 2004 raised the maximum carriable capacity to 80 JDAMs.[81]

The B-2 has various conventional weapons in its arsenal, able to equip Mark 82 and Mark 84 bombs, CBU-87 Combined Effects Munitions, GATOR mines, and the CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon.[82] In July 2009, Northrop Grumman reported the B-2 was compatible with the equipment necessary to deploy the 30,000 lb (14,000 kg) Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is intended to attack reinforced bunkers; up to two MOPs could be equipped in the B-2's bomb bays,[83] the B-2 is the only platform compatible with the MOP as of 2012.[56] As of 2011, the AGM-158 JASSM cruise missile is an upcoming standoff munition to be deployed on the B-2 and other platforms.[84] This is to be followed by the Long Range Standoff Weapon which may give the B-2 a standoff nuclear capability for the first time.[85]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit

[HAPPY2BME]

Trump Issues Dire Warning to North Korea with MOAB Drop

After watching this segment, North Korea expert Gordon Chang told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin that the drop was a direct message to North Korean leader.

Chang noted that the weapon was especially effective against tunnels, and that the government is capable of moving “a large part of the North Korean military” underground.

Raising the possibility of a decapatation strike against the Kim regime, Chang recounted that Kim Jong-il “spent six weeks underground” due to concerns that the Bush administration would eliminate him.

The drop was the Trump administration’s effort to “unnerve” the North Korean leader, according to Chang.

“This guy’s worried about Donald J. Trump,” Chang said.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJCWuL0fAu4[/youtube]

[Crazy Horse]

The problem is in the deployment platform - a dog slow huge target C-130.

Yet less than 10 have gone down to enemy fire over the last 50 years.

[HAPPY2BME]

DoD Has No Idea How Much The Mother Of All Bombs Costs

The giant bomb U.S. forces dropped Thursday on an ISIS training camp in Afghanistan did not cost $314 million to develop, or $16 million per unit as reported by multiple news outlets.

Every news report about cost of the “Mother of All Bombs” relied on a misreading of a 2011 article or a dubious internet website that InfoWars once linked to with a “healthy bit of skepticism.”

The actual cost of the bomb is unknown. The actual cost of the program isn’t publicly available because the Mother of All Bombs, officially known as GBU-43 or the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), is manufactured by the military and not a private defense company.

In fact, the Air Force doesn’t even keep track of the per unit cost, nor the cost of the program as a whole, because it is not manufactured privately.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/13/the-story-youve-been-hearing-about-the-mother-of-all-bombs-is-totally-wrong/#ixzz4eEo3Dz4B

[HAPPY2BME]

[HAPPY2BME]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKJ0wG3fPd4[/youtube]

Must have been one helluva bang.

Via Fox News:

    Video released by the Pentagon on Friday showed the “Mother of all Bombs” plummeting from the sky and exploding in eastern Afghanistan, as military officials said it flattened a cave-and-tunnel complex controlled by the Islamic State terror group.

    The Department of Defense released the video Friday, less than a day after it dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) atop the Achin district of Nangarhar province, which is close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. Officials said 39 ISIS fighters were killed.

    In the 30-second video, the 21,000-pound bomb – the largest non-nuclear weapon in the U.S. military arsenal – could be seen dropping before it exploded midair. Smoke quickly rose from the impact zone, which officials said was more than a mile wide.

    The U.S. military headquarters in Kabul said in a statement that the bomb was dropped at 7:32 p.m. local time Thursday.

    President Donald Trump, who said he authorized the attack, called it a “very, very successful mission.”

    “As [ISIS’] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers, and tunnels to thicken their defense,” Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. “This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS].”

    The MOAB was first tested in 2003, but hadn’t been used in combat before Thursday.

    The MOAB had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane due to its massive size.

    “We kicked it out the back door,” one U.S. official told Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/14/watch-moab-makes-impact-against-isis-tunnels-in-afghanistan.html