What Is MOAB, 'Mother of All Bombs,' and What Is It Capable Of

WASHINGTON: MOAB is thought to be 'the most fearsome explosive weapon' in the Pentagon's possession and can clear out trees in a 152-meter-diameter.

The "Mother of All Bombs," officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, is said to be the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in America's arsenal.

The bomb, which was used for the first time in combat on Thursday in Afghanistan, can penetrate through 60 meters (200 feet) of enforced concrete and is therefore especially suitable for deployment in contained environments such as caves and bunkers.

According to the website globalresearch.ca, MOAB is thought to be "the most fearsome explosive weapon" in the Pentagon's possession.

The Russian version of the MOAB, conveniently nicknamed the "Father of All Bombs" is a bomber-delivered thermobaric weapon. Moscow claims the FOAB is four times as powerful as America's MOAB.

According to the website "How Stuff Works," a parachute pulls the behemoth bomb on a pallet out of the back of a cargo plane. The pallet and the bomb then separate so the MOAB can be directed to its target by a satellite guidance system. The latter feature makes it one of the world's largest "smart bombs."

The bomb is built by the Alabama-based aeronautics company Dynetics and weighs 9,525 kilograms (21,000 pounds), measures 9,15 meters (30 feet) and contains around 8,165 kilograms (18,000 pounds) of tritonal, a mixture of the explosive material TNT and aluminum powder.

Made to increase its range of destruction upon explosion, the bomb's force can clear out trees in a 152-meter-diameter (500 feet).

The bomb, which was first tested days before the start of the Iraq war in March 2003 and later in November of the same year, is delivered by the massive MC-130 aircraft, which is operated by Air Force Special Operations Command.