Have mercy, ‘Mother of All Bombs’!

A bomb so powerful that it earned the name “Mother of All Bombs” is back in the spotlight as the United States weighs military options against Iranian energy and nuclear facilities.

Military analysts warn that deploying the weapon against Iran could mark a major escalation, given its immense destructive power and psychological impact.

The prospect has raised questions about what the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) can actually destroy, how it works, and whether it can damage facilities buried deep underground.

But what exactly is the MOAB, how does it work, and just how devastating can it be?

WHAT IS THE MOAB?

The MOAB is a massive, GPS-guided conventional bomb developed by the United States in 2003, during the Iraq War. Its nickname, the “Mother of All Bombs”, reflects its enormous size and explosive power.

The bomb weighs about 9,800kg or nearly 10 tonnes, roughly equivalent to the weight of four average passenger cars. At around 9.1 metres (30 feet) long, it is also exceptionally large. Its explosive payload alone weighs approximately 8,486kg.

Despite its name, the MOAB is not a nuclear weapon and therefore does not produce a nuclear explosion or the associated radioactive fallout. But that does not make it any less devastating to people and structures caught within its destructive reach.

It relies on conventional chemical explosives to produce a powerful blast, generating intense pressure waves that can kill people, demolish structures, and damage infrastructure across a wide area.

That pressure wave is powerful enough to flatten buildings, destroy military installations and cripple infrastructure across a wide area. Anyone close to the blast is unlikely to survive.

HOW DOES THE BOMB WORK?

The MOAB is too large and heavy to fit inside the weapons bay of conventional bombers, including stealth aircraft.

Instead, it is typically deployed from a specially modified MC-130 transport aircraft used by US special operations forces. The bomb is released from the aircraft with the help of a parachute-based extraction system, which draws the weapon out before it descends towards the target.

Once released, the bomb is guided to its target using GPS and an inertial navigation system. Fixed wings and grid fins help steer it accurately towards its destination.

The weapon was first used in combat on 13 April 2017, when US forces dropped one on an Islamic State stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.

The target was a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the militant group operating in the region.

According to CNN, citing Afghan authorities, 94 Islamic State fighters were killed in the strike. The operation demonstrated the weapon's ability to inflict devastating damage on a target area, although the reported death toll alone does not establish how much of the underground network was destroyed.

HOW DESTRUCTIVE IS IT?

The MOAB's destructive power comes from the enormous amount of conventional explosives it carries and the pressure wave generated when they detonate.

Designed to explode above the ground, the weapon can spread its blast across a broad area, damaging buildings, military installations, equipment and other exposed structures. 

The blast wave can cause fatal injuries, damage the lungs and ears, and throw debris at high speed. Buildings may suffer severe structural damage or collapse, while doors, walls and other barriers can be blown apart.

Military experts say the explosion can devastate targets within a radius of around one kilometre, although the actual level of destruction depends on factors such as terrain, altitude, surrounding structures and weather conditions.

The danger rises dramatically if the bomb is used near populated areas, where the potential for civilian casualties and widespread property damage would be significant.

CAN IT DESTROY UNDERGROUND FACILITIES?

A weapon capable of devastating a large surface area is not necessarily the best weapon for destroying a deeply buried target. 

The MOAB is designed to maximise the effects of an airburst. It is not designed to penetrate deep layers of rock or reinforced concrete. That's the job of specialised "bunker buster" weapons.

The most powerful bunker-buster in the US military’s arsenal is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

Weighing about 13,600kg, the GBU-57 is a precision-guided bunker-buster designed to penetrate protective material and hardened facilities buried beneath layers of rock or reinforced concrete before detonating.

Its reinforced body is built to withstand the impact of striking a hardened target, allowing the weapon to reach structures that an ordinary blast bomb may be unable to damage sufficiently.

Even then, the outcome depends on the facility's depth, the composition and thickness of the material above it, the weapon's impact conditions, and the structure's design. No single bomb can be assumed to destroy every underground installation.

The MOAB may be one of the most fearsome conventional bombs in the US arsenal, but its reputation should not be confused with unlimited destructive capability. Its effects can be catastrophic across a broad area; its ability to eliminate deeply buried targets is a different question altogether.

As debate intensifies over potential military options, the MOAB serves as a reminder that some of the world's most destructive weapons do not carry a nuclear warhead. Sometimes, conventional firepower alone can reshape the battlefields.