USA drops "Mother of All Bombs" on Afghanistan

USA drops "Mother of All Bombs" on Afghanistan

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Cold

Original Poster:

15,207 posts

89 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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US military have used a Lockheed MC-130 to drop a GBU-43 weapon onto caves suspected of housing IS militants in eastern Afghanistan.
This is a large, very large, bomb!

Reuters link

Pesty

42,655 posts

255 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Uuuuuuuge

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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is it really effective against caves? seems like a propaganda stunt over actual killer.

Pesty

42,655 posts

255 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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The Spruce goose said:
is it really effective against caves? seems like a propaganda stunt over actual killer.
Probably extremely as In may collapse them or just bury everybody inside so they can't get out.

Butter Face

30,192 posts

159 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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9m long and 1m wide weighing 10,300kg.

Suppose you can call it 'big'!!

Vipers

32,799 posts

227 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Pesty said:
The Spruce goose said:
is it really effective against caves? seems like a propaganda stunt over actual killer.
Probably extremely as In may collapse them or just bury everybody inside so they can't get out.
Here's hoping.

nyxster

1,452 posts

170 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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The Spruce goose said:
is it really effective against caves? seems like a propaganda stunt over actual killer.
It is exactly what it was designed for. There was a documentary on the design and testing of it, It's a fuel/air bomb, so when it detonates its designed to suck all the air from the surrounding area - by dropping it at the mouth of the cave it sucks all the air out creating a vacuum inside suffocating the occupants instantly. Victim post mortens showed their lungs were literally sucked flat like a deflated balloon.

AshVX220

5,929 posts

189 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
quotequote all
nyxster said:
It is exactly what it was designed for. There was a documentary on the design and testing of it, It's a fuel/air bomb, so when it detonates its designed to suck all the air from the surrounding area - by dropping it at the mouth of the cave it sucks all the air out creating a vacuum inside suffocating the occupants instantly. Victim post mortens showed their lungs were literally sucked flat like a deflated balloon.
Not a good way to go is it, like a Nuke, I think if you were to be targeted by this, you'd want to be right underneath it when it goes off.

Cold

Original Poster:

15,207 posts

89 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
quotequote all
AshVX220 said:
Not a good way to go is it, like a Nuke, I think if you were to be targeted by this, you'd want to be right underneath it when it goes off.
I think the next biggest bomb they've got would actually be a nuclear device.

GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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A bigly bomb

bazza white

3,551 posts

127 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Cold said:
I think the next biggest bomb they've got would actually be a nuclear device.
The Russians have the father of all bombs.

Wacky Racer

38,099 posts

246 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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MrBrightSi

2,912 posts

169 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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nyxster said:
The Spruce goose said:
is it really effective against caves? seems like a propaganda stunt over actual killer.
It is exactly what it was designed for. There was a documentary on the design and testing of it, It's a fuel/air bomb, so when it detonates its designed to suck all the air from the surrounding area - by dropping it at the mouth of the cave it sucks all the air out creating a vacuum inside suffocating the occupants instantly. Victim post mortens showed their lungs were literally sucked flat like a deflated balloon.
There was a small piece on these thermobaric munitions on an old show called future weapons, the presenter was an odd chap but was good military hardware television. The septic tanks have been using huge bombs like this since Vietnam called daisy cutters.

Motorrad

6,811 posts

186 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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You just know this was like Christmas for the septics. They love this st, the crew would have been like a dog with two dicks waiting to drop this motherfker.

Jockman

17,912 posts

159 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Is that Madagascar orange??

seyre1972

2,607 posts

142 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Wacky Racer said:
GBU-43/B is official title - affectionately known as the MOAB - Massive Ordnance Air Blast - or Mother Of All Bombs .... Reckoned to be the most powerful conventional weapon in Americas Arsenal - then you step up-to the Nuclear option.

Deptford Draylons

10,480 posts

242 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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You had a ten ton bomb dropping from Lancasters during world war two. Nothing special, but hopefully took out a few of the good for only potato peeling British IS crowd.

loose cannon

6,029 posts

240 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Wacky Racer said:
You no when you have been tango'd

Beati Dogu

8,862 posts

138 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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AshVX220 said:
nyxster said:
It is exactly what it was designed for. There was a documentary on the design and testing of it, It's a fuel/air bomb, so when it detonates its designed to suck all the air from the surrounding area - by dropping it at the mouth of the cave it sucks all the air out creating a vacuum inside suffocating the occupants instantly. Victim post mortens showed their lungs were literally sucked flat like a deflated balloon.
Not a good way to go is it, like a Nuke, I think if you were to be targeted by this, you'd want to be right underneath it when it goes off.
It's not actually a fuel air, or aerosol bomb; It's "just" 9 tons of high explosive in a thin metal shell.

The overpressure alone would pretty much burst every cell in your body.

Jonmx

2,535 posts

212 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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I have nothing against bombing these ISIS fighters, but I do have to question the timing of using the largest non nuclear weapon ever dropped. I doubt I'm alone in thinking it's more of a willy waving exercise than a mission of any real strategic value.