Moab

[ƒORM]

WASHINGTON — In a move calculated at least in part to frighten the Iraqi army, the Air Force tested a gigantic conventional bomb Tuesday at a base in Florida.

The test of the Massive Ordnance Air Burst (MOAB) bomb was successful.
AFP

Known as MOAB — the Mother of All Bombs or more formally the Massive Ordnance Air Blast — the 21,000-pound explosive weighs as much as six Volkswagen Beetles and would be the largest conventional bomb in use by the military. (Related item: Video: Watch the massive MOAB bomb explosion )

The MOAB has a relatively limited military application. It has to be dropped from a slow-moving cargo plane and is guided by satellite. A fuse detonates the bomb just above the ground, where it flattens everything in its path.

It can't be used anywhere that the Pentagon would fear civilian casualties. But the missile-shaped MOAB could have a huge impact if dropped near Iraqi soldiers.

"Besides blowing stuff up, this is designed to shock and awe the Iraqis," says Chris Bolkcom, a military analyst with the Congressional Research Service. But one military source said MOAB might be used in retaliation if Saddam Hussein unleashes chemical weapons.

During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a 38-day bombing campaign in Kuwait demoralized the Iraqi regular army and caused tens of thousands to surrender.

Far more important in the military outcome in Iraq will be thousands of laser- and satellite-guided smart bombs U.S. and British pilots are expected to drop in the opening days of the war. Combined with missiles fired from ships, helicopters and unmanned drones, the aerial barrage is expected to the most unrelenting and accurate air attack in history.


AFP/Defense Department
Image from video shows MOAB's mushroom cloud.


Before this week, military officials confirmed that the Air Force had been developing a large conventional bomb but offered few details. On Tuesday, however, the Pentagon revealed that the first live test of MOAB occurred at 1 p.m. at Eglin Air Force Base.

"It looked like a white mushroom cloud, almost like cotton or smoke you'd see from a fire, kind of billowy," said base spokeswoman Karen Roganov, who watched from a rooftop 30 miles away.

But MOAB might not be the largest conventional weapon in the arsenal for long. A 30,000-pound weapon called Big BLU (Bomb Live Unit) is being developed and might be available for use in Iraq.


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[bob]

shiney :kimmie:

[MC Hammered]

You should check out this other 50,000 pound device they call STUPID.

Single Toaster Unit Painted In the Dark