The mother of all bombs is standing. US experts: “The mother of all bombs” is just a “big canister”

What happened?

According to a statement by the top US military command, on April 13, 2017, American aircraft dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb GBU-43/B MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Burst - heavy high-explosive munition) on fortified areas of Islamic State terrorists 1 in eastern Afghanistan. The charge was reportedly dropped from an MC-130 aircraft.

2

Where exactly was the blow struck?

The US said the strike took place in the Achin district of Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan in the east.

The Afghan province of Nangarhar is, in fact, the main enclave of the activities of the Islamic State terrorists: on the territory of this province there is a self-proclaimed “wilayat of Khorasan”, which is subordinate to the IS 1 terrorists in Raqqa. For the last two years, the enclave has been engaged in permanent hostilities with government troops, American troops and the Taliban terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation 1 .

3

What are the terrorist losses?

According to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, the strike destroyed an ISIS terrorist hideout and a complex of tunnels located at great depths. In addition, according to information from Kabul, 36 militants were killed. It is clarified that civilians were not harmed during the bombing - however, information about the consequences of the strike is still being clarified, and the data on the losses of militants has not been verified and may be subsequently supplemented.

In short, neither Kabul nor Washington knows exactly how many ISIS terrorists laid down their violent heads from the “mother of all bombs.”

4

What kind of new attack is this?

The super-heavy bomb GBU-43/B MOAB (this abbreviation is popularly translated as Mother Of All Bombs) was created in the States in 2002-2003 and is considered one of the largest aerial bombs. The projectile is equipped with a satellite guidance system.

Initially, the “mother of all bombs” was created on the basis of the previous US super-heavy projectile - BLU-82. On March 7, 2003, the MOAB made its first solo flight without a warhead, and on March 11, the MOAB was tested at the Eglin Air Force Base test site in Florida.

5

What are the technical parameters and power of the bomb?

The MOAB is 9.17 m long and 102.9 cm in diameter, and the bomb weighs 9.5 tons, of which 8.4 tons are H-6 explosive, a mixture of hexogen, TNT and aluminum powder developed in Australia.

The force of the explosion is 11 tons of TNT. For comparison, during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, the “Baby” bomb was more than a thousand times more powerful (from 13 thousand tons). The radius of the projectile is about 140 meters, the blast wave reaches a distance of up to 1.5 km from the epicenter of the explosion.

6

How much territory has the Islamic State captured in Afghanistan?

The IS terrorists cannot yet compete in the number of territories captured with the main sources of problems for the Afghan government - the Taliban. Direct control of the Islamic State is observed on a small piece of land near the Pakistani border - but quite close to Kabul.

Objectively, the “vilayat of Khorasan”, due to its remoteness from the main events in Syria and Iraq, does not have constant supply from the outside and is forced to act independently, periodically organizing raids on government military bases and neighboring villages. In addition, the Khorasan Vilayat maintains control over poppy plantations in Afghanistan and has a certain stake in Afghan drug trafficking.

7

How did the US authorities react?

US President Donald Trump praised the US military for carrying out the bombing, calling the operation a "very successful" mission.

"We have incredible leaders in the military and the greatest military in the world. They got the job done. This was another very successful operation," Trump said.

US authorities also noted that the target of the attack was not only the tunnels themselves. According to White House press secretary Sean Spicer, the free movement of terrorists allowed them to threaten US military advisers and Afghan forces in the area. However, Spicer did not answer the question whether this bomb will be used somewhere else: in Syria or the DPRK.

8

How did Russian officials and famous people react?

According to the Federation Council, the US authorities resorted to using the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in order to test its effectiveness. It is also possible that a possible purpose for using the bomb was a demonstration of American weapons.

Meanwhile, former American intelligence officer Edward Snowden, who lives in the Russian Federation, believes that the destroyed ISIS “tunnel complex” was built with funds from the United States itself

“And we are bombing these networks of Mujahideen tunnels in Afghanistan? We ourselves paid for them,” Snowden wrote on his Twitter page.

9

How much does one such bomb cost? And how many such “mothers” do the States still have?

The price of one GBU-43/B MOAB bomb, according to official data, is about $16 million. For comparison, the American BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles that the United States recently fired at the Shayrat air base in Syria cost about $1.87 million.

In total, the United States has 14 more bombs of this type in service.

10

Is there really no one who can find the answer to such a huge bomb?

You will be surprised, but Russia has the answer to the “mother of all bombs”. After the strike on Afghanistan, the American media recalled that the Russian Federation has more powerful non-nuclear weapons than the American GBU-43 bomb. This is an aircraft high-power vacuum bomb (AVBPM), known as the “daddy of all bombs.”

More compact compared to the American "mother", the Russian "father" is much more powerful - the ammunition capacity is approximately 40 tons in TNT equivalent, four times more than that of the GBU-43. At the same time, during the explosion, explosive dust ignites, which fills the space and destroys all objects in its path at a distance of 3 km from the epicenter.

1 Terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation

And the history of this ammunition began with a German adventurer during World War II

On Thursday, a terrorist camp in Afghanistan was bombed, resulting in the destruction of warehouses, tunnels, storage facilities and at least 36 militants located in them. American armed forces. True, experts expressed serious doubts about the military necessity of such a bombing, saying that the use of the GBU-43 was more like a demonstration by Russia of the capabilities of the United States. At the same time, a number of media outlets, in particular the American publication National Interest, reminded Washington that Moscow has a much more powerful non-nuclear bomb - the AVBPM (Aircraft Vacuum Bomb of High Power), which by analogy is called the “daddy of all bombs.”

In this regard, experts remind that comparing bombs with Russia is not the most winning argument for the United States in a dispute with Russia about who is stronger militarily.

The backstory of the American “mother of all bombs” stretches back to the time of the 2nd World War from the project (Shvartsenebel - “Black Fog”). Its author was a railway employee, an adventurer by nature, Johann Engelke, who had only four classes of a city school behind him. They based the project on a phenomenon that was later called the volumetric explosion effect. He presented his development to the Ministry of Armaments of the 3rd Reich, which gave the go-ahead for the work that Engelke was engaged in until April 1945.

In 1945, Engelke was arrested by the Americans, to whom, posing as a doctor-physicist, he also offered his services. For some time he worked in the States at the center of the national nuclear program, but then he was exposed and kicked out in disgrace, and his idea of ​​​​using the effect of a volumetric explosion for military purposes was forgotten for almost two decades.

Later, the United States returned to it again. This time the development was undertaken by designers from Boeing (the direct author and developer is Albert Wimorts). In 2003, the authors presented a series of tests of a super-powerful 11-ton ammunition (in TNT equivalent), sufficient to provide a guaranteed destruction radius of 140 meters, while partial destruction of objects and buildings was observed at a distance of up to 1.5 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. This bomb was immediately nicknamed “the mother of all bombs.”

The length of the bomb is 10 m, the diameter is 1 m. The total mass is 9.5 tons, of which 8.4 tons are explosives consisting of a mixture of TNT, hexogen and aluminum powder, which is 1.35 times more powerful than TNT.

In 2007, the “mother of all bombs” received a response from Russia. A news story was shown on television in which our long-range Tu-160 aircraft dropped a huge bomb. It fell by parachute and exploded, after which the explosion site resembled the lunar surface at a great distance.

No details about this ammunition were reported. True, in the TV report, the test result was commented on by the then Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Alexander Rukshin. He said that the new aircraft ammunition will allow our country to ensure its security and will contribute to countering international terrorism in any region of the world. According to him, tests have shown that the bomb is comparable in its capabilities and effectiveness to nuclear weapons, but at the same time, unlike all types of nuclear weapons, the effect of its action does not pollute the environment at all. He also clarified that this aerial bomb can replace a number of previously developed low-yield nuclear weapons (tactical ammunition with a power of up to 5 kt).

The Western media, by analogy with the American one, immediately dubbed the Russian novelty “the daddy of all bombs.” Later, from various open sources it became known that the Russian AVBPM is smaller in size than its American counterpart, but at the same time the power of its ammunition is approximately 40 tons in TNT equivalent, which is approximately four times more than that of the American GBU-43. In addition, in terms of the radius of guaranteed destruction, the Russian “father” is twice as large as the American “mother,” which, in fact, is not surprising, since the “father” is always larger and stronger than the “mother.”

On April 13, the US Air Force used the GBU-43/B heavy-duty high-explosive bomb for the first time in a real operation. At one time, this ammunition caused a lot of noise in every sense and attracted the attention of the whole world. However, for many years the command was unable to find a suitable target for it. Immediately after the first use of the most powerful American conventional aerial bomb, experts and military enthusiasts remembered a similar development of Russian industry - a product known as AVBPM.

The heavy-duty aerial bombs of the two countries, like several years ago, have again become the topic of the most active discussions. Participants in the debate are trying to consider the available information about the two ammunition and draw certain conclusions. Let's join this interesting activity and also try to compare the most powerful non-atomic bombs in the world.

GBU-43/B MOAB

The immediate predecessor of the most powerful conventional ammunition in the United States is the BLU-82 aerial bomb, which received the unofficial nickname Daisy Cutter. During the Vietnam War, this munition, equipped with 5.7 tons of explosive, was used, among other things, to destroy trees in forests that served as cover for the enemy. Many years later, since November 2001, the US Air Force began to use this in Afghanistan against the targets of the Taliban terrorist organization (banned in Russia). In general, the bombs coped with their tasks, but the effect was lower than expected.

General view of the GBU-43/B MOAB bomb, the rudders are unfolded. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Taking into account the experience of using the existing bomb, a decision was made to create a similar weapon, characterized by higher power. The development of the new project started in 2002 and was carried out by specialists from the Air Force Research Laboratory under the leadership of Albert L. Wimorts. The goal of the work was to create a promising aviation munition that differs from the existing BLU-82 in increased explosion power and increased power.

The program was initially officially designated Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB for short. Due to the expected high power of the explosion, some wits began to decipher the abbreviation as Mother Of All Bombs. Everyone liked this name and soon became the unofficial nickname of the project. The product was subsequently put into service under the official designation GBU-43/B MOAB.

In accordance with customer requirements, the MOAB product had to differ from its predecessors in increased power and increased hit accuracy. Taking these requirements into account, the main features of its appearance were formed. It was proposed to use a large streamlined body, characterized by sufficient volume and containing the maximum possible amount of explosive. In addition, it was proposed to equip the bomb with a homing system and in-flight controls.

The result of the design work was the appearance of a heavy-duty ammunition with a distinctive appearance. The bomb received an aluminum casing of high elongation, equipped with several external units. A head fairing consisting of two conical surfaces is used. Most of the body is cylindrical. The tail part of the body is made in the form of a truncated cone coupled with the main cylinder and a cylindrical element. On the sides of the main part of the hull there was a trapezoidal wing of low aspect ratio. Folding lattice rudders were provided at the tail section of the hull.

Bomb prototype during assembly. On the right is chief designer Al Whitmores. US Air Force Photo

The GBU-43/B product has a total length of 9.18 m and a maximum body diameter of 1030 mm. The wingspan is more than 2 m. The mass of the combat-ready bomb is 9.5 tons. The bomb has the ability to glide towards the target and some maneuvering during flight. The maximum speed and range of independent flight to the target were not specified.

Almost all of the internal volumes of the body are given over to the placement of an explosive charge. The “Mother of All Bombs” was equipped with a charge weighing 18.7 thousand pounds (8.5 tons). The charge used is H6 composition, developed and produced by the Australian company St. Marys Munitions Factory. This explosive contains TNT, hexogen, nitrocellulose, powdered aluminum and a number of other components. By correctly combining components and selecting their optimal proportions, it was possible to obtain a noticeable increase in power. Composition H6 is 1.35 times more powerful than TNT.

The use of a foreign-developed explosive made it possible to obtain a very high detonation power. An 8.5-ton charge of composition H6 is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT. The blast wave damage radius is 140-150 m. Some buildings may be destroyed at ranges of up to 1-1.5 km. There are no high-explosive bombs with similar characteristics in the arsenals of the United States and other countries, which makes the MOAB product a unique representative of its class.

To increase the likelihood of hitting a given target, the GBU-43/B bomb is equipped with a satellite homing system. By tracking signals from the GPS navigation system, the automation determines the position of the bomb and its flight path. Flight control is carried out using X-shaped lattice rudders in the rear part of the hull. According to various sources, the use of homing made it possible to increase the probable circular deviation to several meters.

Due to its large dimensions, the MOAB bomb cannot be used with existing bombers. The role of carrier of such weapons was given to specially equipped C-130 military transport aircraft and their modifications. The bomb is delivered to the target area using a special platform with a parachute system. Before the release, the carrier aircraft must open the tail ramp, after which the pilot chute is released. His task is to remove the platform with the bomb from the cargo compartment. After leaving the plane, the platform drops the bomb, after which it goes into free flight and hits the target. Detonation occurs upon impact with the surface of the earth or at a given height.

Experienced "Mother of all bombs" before testing. US DoD photo

The development of the new ammunition took only a few months. Already in the winter of 2002-2003, a project was prepared and the assembly of experimental ammunition began. On March 7, 2003, the first test drop of an experimental bomb with a weight simulator of the warhead was performed. On March 11, the first release of a product equipped with a warhead with a tritonal charge (a mixture of TNT and aluminum powder) took place. On November 21, the GBU-43/B bomb was tested in its standard configuration and the calculated detonation characteristics were obtained.

Soon, a promising model of aviation weapons was adopted by the US Air Force and an order appeared for mass production of such products. The release of the first batch of 15 bombs was entrusted to the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. The order was completed several years later, after which production stopped. The specific appearance of the new weapon and the limited scope of its application led to the absence of the need for long-term and mass production.

Having received the world's most powerful non-nuclear aircraft munition, the US Air Force for many years could not find a suitable target for it. Similar weapons were known to be sent to Iraq during the 2003 war, but the bombs subsequently returned to the United States and were returned to the arsenal. As a result, it was possible to use the GBU-43/B for the first time to hit a real target only in April 2017 - 13 years after it was put into service.

On April 13, 2017, the “Mother of All Bombs” was dropped on a tunnel complex located in the Nanhargarh province of Afghanistan. As reported after the strike, a single bomb destroyed the most important hideout of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (banned in Russia), and also hit a number of tunnels. Over 90 terrorists were eliminated, including more than a dozen field commanders. The civilian population was not harmed. In terms of its effect, dropping just one bomb could be compared to a massive air strike using a large number of small and medium caliber bombs.

The MOAB prototype moments before it crashed. US Air Force Photo

Whether such weapons will be used in the future, and what objects will become their targets, is still unknown. The first real operation of the MOAB product was a real surprise, and new facts about its combat use can hardly be predicted with acceptable accuracy.

AVBPM

In September 2007, it became known that the American GBU-43/B MOAB aerial bomb no longer holds the power record among non-nuclear ammunition of its class. The honorary title of the most powerful aerial bomb went to a Russian product known under the unofficial name AVBPM.

According to official reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense, on September 11, 2007, the first tests of a promising high-power aerial bomb took place. The product was dropped from the carrier aircraft and successfully hit the conditional target with a volumetric explosion. In addition, a video was published showing the progress of recent tests. It showed a new type of bomb falling and the process of explosion when hitting a target.

There is no information about the development of a promising domestic bomb. Almost ten years have passed since the tests, but the military still has not announced when the design work began, which organization carried it out, at which enterprise the prototype was built, etc. Moreover, even the official name of the product remains unknown. The unofficial designation AVBPM - “Aircraft Vacuum Bomb of High Power” has become widespread in the media and on specialized platforms. It should be noted that such a name is not only not official, but also not technically literate. However, due to the lack of official information, specialists and the public have to use the existing “substitute” name.

General view of the AVBPM bomb. Still from a report by TV channel "Channel One"

By analogy with the American super-powerful bomb, the Russian one also received the nickname “Daddy of all bombs.” As a result, foreign sources often use another unofficial name - FOAB (Father of All Bombs).

In September 2007, some features of the promising domestic project were announced. In particular, both the bomb itself and its three-dimensional model were demonstrated. The main and largest element of the product is a cylindrical body of large diameter. Apparently, it is this that holds the main charge. There are some protruding elements on the nose cover of the case. The tail section is equipped with a cylindrical body with X-shaped stabilizers. Inside its central element is a pilot/drogue chute container. The lower part of the body provides for the installation of four supports for proper transportation of the bomb on the ground and in the carrier.

According to available data, the total mass of the AVBPM product exceeds 7.5-8 tons. Inside the main part of the body there is a liquid explosive responsible for a volumetric explosion. The total mass of the charge is 7.1 tons. According to published information, such a charge produces an explosion with a power equivalent to 44 tons of TNT. Guaranteed destruction of targets occurs within a radius of 300 m. At distances of up to 1-1.5 km, the shock wave retains the possibility of causing damage to buildings and manpower.

There is no information about guidance means. At the same time, officials argued that the high charge power makes it possible to reduce the requirements for hit accuracy. A variety of conclusions can be drawn from this, including the complete absence of a homing head.

Details of the proposed method of using the “Daddy of All Bombs” were not disclosed. In the published video, this weapon was demonstrated together with the Tu-160 strategic bomber, but there is reason to doubt that this aircraft was actually used in testing. Footage of the bomb being dropped shows that it used a pilot chute to disengage from the carrier. This suggests that during the tests the role of the bomber was given to a military transport aircraft. In addition, the dimensions of the Tu-160 cargo compartment may be insufficient to transport such large ammunition.

The "daddy of all bombs" descends from the carrier, the parachute lines are visible. Still from a report by TV channel "Channel One"

If these assumptions are true, then the tests of the heavy-duty Russian aerial bomb looked the same as the tests of the MOAB product. She was delivered to the drop site by a transport aircraft, after which she was extracted from its cargo compartment by a pilot chute. It is noteworthy that Russian weapons do without an additional platform. Then the bomb independently fell on the target and attacked the target. Using a special small-sized charge, 7100 kg of special liquid was sprayed, after which it ignited.

The official video showed the results of the AVBPM bomb detonation: destroyed brick buildings, blocked trenches, broken equipment, etc. In addition, a large number of small-diameter holes formed on the soil surface. It is important that no traces of chemical or, especially, radiation contamination remain at the site of the conditional target.

It was argued that the new volumetric explosion munition, characterized by its uniquely high power, could in some situations replace tactical-class nuclear warheads. This expands the range of tasks solved by the air force, and also accordingly increases the overall potential of the armed forces in the fight against the enemy.

It should be noted that in 2007, the Russian military department spoke about promising weapons for the first and last time. In the future, no further information about the continuation of development, testing or adoption was announced. Whether the FOAB product replenished the arsenals of the Russian Air Force or the project was closed due to lack of prospects is unknown. Various features of the weapon make it possible to consider both scenarios realistic.

"Mom" versus "Dad"

By announcing information about a new super-powerful aerial bomb, the Russian military provoked a wave of relevant questions. The question from the “who won whom?” category became quite expected. It hardly needs reminding that such questions are rather rhetorical, but the two bombs from the USA and Russia can still be considered together and compared.

AVBPM during free flight. Still from a report by TV channel "Channel One"

The GBU-43/B MOAB and AVBPM products have a number of common features. They are large in size, weight and power. In addition, such weapons are designed to solve similar problems: destroying large and well-protected enemy targets, including in difficult conditions. Also, presumably, both bombs - due to their excessive dimensions - cannot be used by existing bombers and therefore require carriers of other classes. This is where the similarity between the samples ends.

Samples similar in purpose differ in their operating principle. Developing existing ideas, American designers decided to use a solid high explosive charge. It was proposed to increase the charge power to the maximum possible limits by choosing the right composition and increasing the mass. Russian industry used a different version of the warhead, which made it possible to obtain a more powerful explosion. A liquid explosive is placed inside the existing housing and sprayed near the target before detonation. As tests have shown, due to this, with a smaller charge mass, the Russian bomb shows four times more power.

Another major difference between the two bombs is their guidance systems. The American "Mother of All Bombs" is equipped with a satellite homing device, while the Russian "Daddy of All Bombs" appears to have no controls and is a free-falling munition. Obviously, the presence of homing allows you to get the maximum effect from the less powerful GBU-43/B charge, however, the explosion of an AFPM with increased damage characteristics can to a certain extent compensate for the miss.

Bombs should also differ in their effect on the target. When an American high-explosive bomb explodes, it creates a shock wave that spreads in all directions and destroys various objects. In the case of Russian ammunition, the explosion occurs simultaneously in a large volume, after which the wave generated by it disperses throughout the surrounding space. Different operating principles, as well as multiple differences in the power of the explosion, lead to corresponding differences in power and impact on the target.

Detonation of a liquid explosive. Still from a report by TV channel "Channel One"

Since 2007, there have been no new reports about the AVBPM product. The adoption of such weapons by the Russian Air Force has not been reported. It is known that the American GBU-43/B bomb entered service back in 2003. For almost a decade and a half, 15 bombs lay in US arsenals with no clear prospects; only a few days ago these weapons were finally used outside the test site. What is the current state of the Russian project is unknown. It cannot be ruled out that the bomb has already been put into service, but the military has not yet been able to find a suitable target for it. For example, during the current operation in Syria, attack aircraft successfully accomplish their tasks using bombs with a caliber of no more than 500-1000 kg.

Two projects of super-powerful aerial bombs are of great interest, at least because of the record-breaking characteristics of such weapons. However, it is the outstanding power that prevents the normal use of such products. It is not advisable to destroy every enemy object using a MOAB or FOAB, and a suitable target may simply not be found. This is especially evident in low-intensity conflicts, the participants of which often do not have a developed military infrastructure.

Experience in the operation and combat use of the American GBU-43/B MOAB product, as well as the specific situation with information about the Russian AVBPM project, clearly demonstrates the ambiguity of weapons of this class. Both samples indeed have uniquely high characteristics, but not in all situations such advantages can be fully realized. As a consequence, superpower bombs do not have to be produced in large quantities and cannot be used in significant quantities. They turn out to be a special tool for solving specific problems within the framework of a few individual operations. Therefore, it is unlikely that a new super-powerful explosion of a Russian or American bomb will occur in the near future.

Based on materials from sites:
http://ria.ru/
http://lenta.ru/
http://globalsecurity.org/
http://armyrecognition.com/
http://army.armor.kiev.ua/
http://vpk-news.ru/
http://airwar.ru/

The United States used the GBU-43 high-explosive aerial bomb, called the “mother of all bombs” (MOAB), in Afghanistan.

For the first time in history, the US Air Force used the super-powerful non-nuclear bomb GBU-43, known as the “mother of all bombs”, in combat conditions to bomb the fortified positions of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.

This was reported by CNN.

According to CNN sources, a US military aircraft remained in Afghanistan for a long time "awaiting an order to hit a suitable target."

According to preliminary information, the target of the airstrike was ISIS tunnels and caves. The US military is now assessing the damage caused to the terrorists.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also officially confirmed information about the airstrike in Afghanistan at a special briefing. “At 19:00 local time in Afghanistan, the United States used a GBU-43 aerial bomb to destroy a system of tunnels and caves used by terrorists to move,” Spicer announced.

According to a White House spokesman, "The United States takes the fight against terrorism extremely seriously, and therefore it must deny terrorists the ability to move freely to continue their activities."

Spicer also stressed that the United States has done everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. However, he declined to go into detail regarding the details of the operation and referred questions to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon later released an official statement about the operation. The US Department of Defense confirmed the previously announced information, clarifying that the purpose of the airstrike was “to minimize the risks for subsequent ground operations by American and Afghan troops.”

"ISIS's losses continue. They use explosives, tunnels and bunkers to bolster their defenses. These are the weapons that will weaken these obstacles and allow us to continue our offensive against ISIS," said Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon emphasized that the US military used all precautions to eliminate the possibility of civilian casualties in an airstrike. “The US Army will continue the offensive operation until ISIS positions in Afghanistan are destroyed,” the US Department of Defense summarized.

Journalists emphasize that this airstrike was the first use of the GBU-43 in combat conditions in US history. A video of the tests of the “mother of all bombs” was published on the Internet.

tests of GBU-43 "mother of all bombs"

As Pentagon officials said in 2003, the bomb was designed for “psychological operations” in Iraq. Its powerful explosion should have forced the Iraqi troops to surrender.

After the strike, the Pentagon released new video of the test of the "mother of all bombs" - GBU-43/B - in 2003. The recording was published by CNN on its Twitter.

The US tested the "mother of all bombs" about 14 years ago, but it was first used in combat on Thursday, April 13, 2017.

The American president called the strike against Islamic State positions in eastern Afghanistan a “very, very successful mission.”

CNBC channel reports this.

Trump also noted that he is very proud of the US military.

"Everyone knows perfectly well what happened and what I gave instructions to my armed forces. We have the greatest military in the world, and they are doing their job as usual," the US President said.

"If you look at what's happened in the last eight weeks and compare it to what's actually happened in the last eight years, there's a huge difference," he said.

Trump did not provide further details about the operation.

GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast(heavy explosive munition; MOAB), also referred to as Mother Of All Bombs ("mother of all bombs")- American high-explosive aircraft bomb, created in 2002-2003.

MOAB is one of the largest aerial bombs equipped with a satellite guidance system.

There are 14 MOABs in the US arsenal.

The first news of the bomb dates back to the early 2000s. In mid-2002, the Air Force Research Laboratory received an order to improve the BLU-82 bomb, in particular, to equip it with a satellite guidance system, which also forced it to improve the aerodynamic qualities of the ammunition.

By March 2003, the new bomb was ready. On March 7, the first independent flight of the MOAB without a warhead was carried out. On March 11, the MOAB was tested at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and the second test took place there on November 22.

Contrary to popular misconception, the MOAB is not a volumetric detonating (also erroneously called a “vacuum”) bomb. This is a FAB - a high explosive bomb.

MOAB has a length of 9.17 m and a diameter of 102.9 cm, the bomb weighs 9.5 tons, of which 8.4 are Australian-made H-6 explosive - a mixture of hexogen, TNT and aluminum powder - which is 1 more powerful than TNT ,35 times.

The force of the explosion is 11 tons of TNT, the radius of destruction is about 140 meters, partial destruction occurs at a distance of up to 1.5 km from the epicenter.

MOAB is equipped with a KMU-593/B guidance system, which includes inertial and satellite navigation systems.

During testing, the bomb was dropped from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Inside the aircraft, the MOAB is mounted on a platform, which, together with the bomb, is pulled out through the hatch using a parachute. The MOAB then quickly detaches from the platform and parachute to maintain speed, after which it begins to independently target the target.

A bomb of this type was once sent to Iraq, but was never used there during military operations.

Residents of the Achin district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan describe the explosion of the largest American non-nuclear bomb, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), as the most epic they have ever seen. "This bomb was dropped yesterday at about seven o'clock, for almost half an hour the whole area was on fire, everything was destroyed there," Malek Younes, an eyewitness to the attack, told DW. Younes knows what he's talking about: He's lived through a number of major bombings over the decades following the entry of US troops into Afghanistan in 2001 and the fall of the Taliban regime.

An American airstrike killed more than 90 militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. "The underground shelters of the Islamic State have been completely destroyed. There are no civilian casualties; many residents left the area even before the arrival of the Islamic State," a representative of the local governor, Ataullah Khogianai, explained to DW.

Reasons for use

"The Mother of All Bombs," as MOAB is also known, is well suited for destroying targets beyond the reach of standard bombs, said Bill Roggio of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Over 8,400 kilograms of explosive interacts with oxygen in the affected area and leads to a large fire. The Trump administration's first use of these weapons in combat raises a number of questions.

Is the use of MOAB justified by the level of threat to American interests that IS poses in Afghanistan? And was the $15 million bombing that killed 90 jihadists really aimed solely at ISIS, or did it have a broader symbolic meaning?

Former Afghan army general Attikullah Amarkhail is inclined to the second option. “I know the region that was hit very well, and I don’t believe that the Americans needed such a large bomb to kill relatively few militants,” he suggested in a conversation with DW. According to him, the use of a bomb weighing 11 tons against 90 opponents is disproportionate if this is not associated with the desire to achieve other goals at the same time, Amarkhail stated.

IS in Afghanistan

According to US estimates, there are about 600-800 IS militants in Afghanistan. Compared to Iraq and Syria, this is a modest figure. The first reports of jihadists in Afghanistan began to appear in early 2015, and a year earlier the Afghan government and US military warned that IS was recruiting fighters in the country, taking advantage of the vacuum created by the weakening of the Taliban.

In the Achin district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, this problem is most acute. The situation here is somewhat similar to Iraq and Syria: IS partially controls this region, kills dissatisfied people, robs houses and intimidates the local population through radio broadcasts. It is not surprising that residents of the area have long been calling for the fight against ISIS. “If ISIS is not stopped here, the jihadists will become a threat to the whole of Afghanistan and to other countries in the region,” one of them complained in a conversation with DW a couple of years ago.

Context

According to Woodrow Wilson International Center expert Michael Kugelman, the use of the “mother of all bombs” is Washington’s message to the jihadists: “The United States will pursue ISIS, no matter where the Islamists are - in Afghanistan or anywhere else.” However, the current strike is unlikely to be followed by new operations, the expert believes, because the United States and the Afghan army have already achieved great success in the fight against IS in the region in recent months. “It seems to me that dropping the bomb should have allowed us to eliminate those militants who survived the previous military operations of the Americans and Afghans and took refuge in underground shelters,” Kugelman emphasized.

A show of force in front of Russia and China?

According to observers, the use of the largest non-nuclear bomb could also be a kind of warning. It is noteworthy that this happened on the eve of the conference on Afghanistan in Moscow. Representatives from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, China, India, Iran and Pakistan, attended the talks, but the United States declined the invitation to consultations.

By using the "mother of all bombs," Washington could send a signal that the reduction in US activity in Afghanistan should not be seen as a sign of weakness. "The date of dropping the bomb is critical. The United States is demonstrating its military capabilities to Russia and China," says former Afghan general Amarkhail. At the same time, he fears that Islamists will use this American operation for their propaganda and recruitment of new supporters, which will have a negative impact on security in the area.