What to Know About the GBU-43/B, ‘Mother of All Bombs’

[rangerrebew]

What to Know About the GBU-43/B, ‘Mother of All Bombs’
Posted on April 14, 2017 by Katie Lange   
   

By Shannon Collins
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

The “Mother of All Bombs,” the GBU-43/B Massive Air Blast, is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in America’s arsenal, and it was used for the first time in combat on April 13 in Afghanistan against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

If you’ve never heard of this bomb, you’re likely not alone. To help you get educated about it, here are some facts to know:
When and Why Was It Created?

http://www.dodlive.mil/2017/04/14/what-to-know-about-the-gbu-43b-mother-of-all-bombs/

[geronl]

It weighs 21,000 pounds!
The MOAB delivers an 18,700-pound warhead known as the BLU-120/B, which is made of H6 – a mixture of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine, TNT and aluminum

good gosh!

Imagine a fuel-air bomb with that amount of fuel.

[TomSea]

Massive Ordinance Air Blast : MOAB

[Elderberry]

The GBU-57 is bigger.

The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is a U.S. Air Force, precision-guided, 30,000-pound (14,000 kg) "bunker buster" bomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Ordnance_Penetrator

[geronl]

The GBU-57 is bigger.

The GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is a U.S. Air Force, precision-guided, 30,000-pound (14,000 kg) "bunker buster" bomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Ordnance_Penetrator

That warhead is only 5,300 pounds though. The rest is used for digging.