Devastation and a war that rages on: visiting the valley hit by the Moab attack

[rug]

The US attack on Isis in Afghanistan means locals could return to their villages – but the scenes on the ground were grim, and the fighting is far from over

Sune Engel Rasmussen in Asadkhel
Monday 17 April 2017 14.11 EDT

The Afghan commando knew when the big bomb would hit, so he turned on his phone camera to capture the impact.

When the blast came at 7.32pm – as the Americans had said it would – a giant white flash lit up the evening sky over the Spin Ghar mountains. But the explosion was not as loud as he had expected, the commando said. In the moment, it felt more like an earthquake.

The 11-ton GBU-43/B, or Moab (“mother of all bombs”), dropped by a US cargo plane on an Islamic State stronghold in eastern Afghanistan on 13 April, was the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat.

Residents in nearby villages felt the strike differently, depending on their location. Some spoke of ringing ears and crying children, others of houses shaking and walls cracking.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/17/moab-bomb-site-afghanistan

[flotsam]

1. As an English Newspaper this is an incredibly bad headline

As can easily be checked the RAF was routinely dropping the larger "Grand Slam" bombs 72 years ago on wartime targets.

[rug]

2. Welcome to DU.

The Grand Slam bombs were twice the size - 22 tons - weren't they?

[flotsam]

3. 10,000KG

22,000Ib-technically 400lb heavier than MOAB. 42 were dropped in combat. " during World War II Royal Air Force Bomber Command used the Grand Slam "Bomb, Medium Capacity, 22,000 lb" 42 times. At 22,000 lbs total weight these bombs were technically larger than the MOAB. However half their weight was due to the cast iron casing necessary for penetrating hardened concrete roofs. The MOAB in contrast has a light 2,900 lb aluminum casing surrounding 18,700 lbs of explosive material."




Pics and info here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(bomb)

Thanks for the welcome.

[Egnever]

5. Wow 42 of them

That is a lot of destruction.

[MicaelS]

4. No, they were 22,000 pounds.

However, the blast yield of Grand Slam was 6.5 tons TNT equivalent. MOAB is 11 tons equivalent. Also, Grand Slam was a penetrator bomb. MOAB is an airburst weapon.

[Egnever]

6. Air burst..

Does that mean it is intended to spread damage instead of concentrating it?

And if so how does that make them effective at taking out tunnels?

[MicaelS]

7. Yes, to the first.

As to the last it works by over-pressure. The human body is only capable of withstanding about 10 psi over-pressure.

Blast overpressure (BOP), also known as high energy impulse noise, is a damaging outcome of explosive detonations and firing of weapons. Exposure to BOP shock waves alone results in injury predominantly to the hollow organ systems such as auditory, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems."

So, over-pressure can also collapse structures including tunnels. Think of it like this: The structure is at atmospheric pressure, then the pressure is suddenly increased, so the structure collapses because the outside pressure is higher than the internal pressure. Or in the case of a tunnels, the pressure rushes into the tunnel, makes it expand, the walls shatter, and tunnels collapses on itself.

[Egnever]

9. Interesting

If it is not a penetration type of bomb how does the explosion reach the tunnels? Simply by brute forcing its way through the upper layers? Or from entryways near the blast?

[MicaelS]

10. I would think both.

Check this out. Very good article.

[hack89]

8. They also used it to destroy minefields and other defensive positions

It was dropped just prior to a ground assault.