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Afghanistan
US drops MOAB on ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan
2017-04-13
[FoxNews] The U.S. military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS there, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.

The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in Nangarhar Province.

The MAOB -- Massive Ordinance Air Blast -- is also known as the "Mother Of All bombs." It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used before Thursday.

"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]."

For comparison, each Tomahawk cruise missile launched at Syria last week was 1,000-pounds each.
Posted by:DarthVader

#28  Intel guy on Fox said it would have collapsed the tunnels which are closer to the surface and ruined entries. Rubbled them. Deeper tunnels, unknown. Called it an area denial weapon in this use.
In VN, it turned out that two right angles in a tunnel stopped the blast front and sent it back out. That's why they used gasoline vaopor. It would go all through the tunnel and then you could light it.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2017-04-13 23:07  

#27  
Posted by: Glomock Bourbon1209   2017-04-13 21:22  

#26  Maybe they should have kept a few of these in inventory
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-12_Cloudmaker
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2017-04-13 20:46  

#25  Although the reverse, a small entrance opening to a large cavern would limit it's effectiveness. And I doubt they had info on the configuration of the cave.

Primarily a message to the Fat Un and others.
Posted by: phil_b   2017-04-13 20:38  

#24  I can see how an airburst adjacent to a cave with a funnel shaped mouth would cause one hell of a pressure wave for a considerable distance in the cave.
Posted by: phil_b   2017-04-13 20:30  

#23  Tanya the Evil would give this thumbs up.
They should have used her little girl voice to warn the Twats to leave or dropped warning leaflets in German about 15 minutes before the attack.
Posted by: Jeasing Creque5352   2017-04-13 20:23  

#22  "Good Morning Afghanistan!"

(well good for us....)
Posted by: CrazyFool   2017-04-13 20:18  

#21  "Reach out and vaporize someone.."
Posted by: Warthog   2017-04-13 19:52  

#20  Knock, knock!
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-04-13 18:42  

#19  Omar comin' !!
Posted by: Ebbang Peacock2676   2017-04-13 18:26  

#18  Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like the MOAB is 2x the size (who says I'm too pretty to do math?) and is pretty effective for clearing out the desert rats.
Posted by: Regular joe   2017-04-13 17:59  

#17  I reckon ear plugs wouldn't make much difference.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-04-13 17:02  

#16  Next, FOESAD bomb?
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-04-13 16:52  

#15  Trump said he was going to bomb the $h!t out of ISIS if elected. These are strong messages to enemies as well as allies.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-04-13 16:33  

#14  Gorb not just landing pads. The guys I knew who fought there said it was really good before moving into a jungle and tunnel area. Main benefit with an air burst was popped ear drums in the enemy. They couldn't hear you coming and folks in tunnels were jellified by the over pressure. Also it would trigger many of the traps in a tunnel making the tunnel rats life a little bit safer.
Posted by: 3dc   2017-04-13 16:01  

#13  No. Daisy cutters are Vietnam-era, I think. They were used to create helicopter landing pads.

The MOAB is used to create helicopter landing craters.
Posted by: gorb   2017-04-13 15:12  

#12  Daisy cutter is 10,000 lbs or less. Similar explosive slurry.
Posted by: 3dc   2017-04-13 15:12  

#11  Are the MOAB and daisy cutter the same bomb?
Posted by: regular joe   2017-04-13 15:04  

#10  I wonder how many ISI cols and generals were in the complex.
Posted by: 3dc   2017-04-13 15:03  

#9  Like one of my favorite lines from 'Die Hard With a Vengeance' - 'When that thing goes off, be somewhere else.'
Posted by: Raj   2017-04-13 14:47  

#8  Always admired Trump's commercial development skills, but now I am really impressed with how he loves to break things, too.
Posted by: Nero White 3083   2017-04-13 14:39  

#7  Since it's test was so long ago...
Posted by: 3dc   2017-04-13 14:26  

#6  "If force doesn't work, try more force."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2017-04-13 14:24  

#5  Blockbuster used to be a drink up so the BLU-43B should be "Let's hang a big one on!".
Posted by: 3dc   2017-04-13 14:24  

#4  #3 A message really intended for Kim Jong Un?

Of course not...heh
Posted by: Frank G   2017-04-13 13:51  

#3  A message really intended for Kim Jong Un?
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2017-04-13 13:25  

#2  We used to say this about the MX; "When you care enough to send the very best". The MOAB fits that pretty well.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2017-04-13 13:18  

#1  Avon calling!
Posted by: DarthVader   2017-04-13 13:09  

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