The Mother of All Bombs: The Story of the Most Powerful Non-Nuclear Weapon That Turned Out to Be Almost Useless

In April 2017, the world learned of the combat use of the GBU-43/B MOAB, the most powerful non-nuclear air bomb in the US arsenal. Dropped from a transport plane in the Afghan mountains, it destroyed a terrorist cave complex, demonstrating a destructive force comparable to a small nuclear charge.

The weapon's origins go back to World War II, when the British created the 10-ton Grand Slam bomb, which could destroy underground bunkers with a seismic shock. The Americans responded with the 19-ton T-12 Cloudmaker, a monster that was never used in combat.



The real breakthrough came in Vietnam with the BLU-82B Daisy Cutter. This 6,8-ton "powder keg," as it was called, created a kill zone with a radius of 300 meters, clearing the jungle for helicopter landing pads. Its explosions were so powerful that British special forces in Iraq later mistook them for nuclear strikes.

In turn, in 2002, the Pentagon presented an improved version - a 9,8-ton GBU-43/B MOAB with 8,5 tons of Composition H6 explosives, which are 35% more powerful than TNT. To improve accuracy, the munition was equipped with a satellite guidance system and lattice rudders. However, this is not so important, since the bomb could destroy targets within a kilometer.

However, combat use showed the weapon's limited effectiveness. The MOAB was excessive against dispersed terrorist groups, and it lacked the penetrating power to destroy fortified bunkers. As a result, the only real use in Afghanistan was more of a demonstration.

A more practical alternative was the 12,3-ton GBU-57A/B MOP (with a 2,5-ton warhead), capable of penetrating 60 feet of concrete. But it was the MOAB that went down in history as the “Mother of All Bombs” – an impressive, if not very practical, symbol of American military might.

As practice has shown, in modern conflicts, it is not brute force that is more important, but the precision and selectivity of strikes. MOAB remained in the arsenal as a weapon of psychological influence - a frightening, but rarely used tool.