Note: in listening to more news I realized that this is not a Bunker Buster but instead what is known as an "Air Bomb" which kills everything above and below ground for several miles in a circle underground and above ground.
So, it is a 21,000 pound air bomb that only fits in a whole Semi Truck flatbed Trailer or specially made cradles on board bombers and is pulled out of large planes back ends with a parachute to get enough pull to remove it when it is time to let it go. end note.
If you have studied warfare like I did as a child after world war II and the Korean war and the Viet Nam war and after, what is really going on here is that they are testing this bomb in battle to see if it can penetrate North Korean nuclear weapons bunkers. It is called an AIR BOMB because it will kill everything for miles in a circular direction of where it goes off above and below ground. Nothing will be alive for miles when something like this goes off underground. It is the single most lethal weapon that the U.S. has short of nuclear weapons. The concussion of air going out from this would simply create so much pressure that your ears and brain would explode if you were anywhere in the vicinity even if you weren't blown up directly. So, the biggest concern in using something like this is "Collateral Damage" of any civilians who were not ISIS soldiers within a few miles of when this went off.
begin quote from:
'Mother of all bombs'
LIVE BLOG: ISIS tunnels and personnel targeted, sources say
Story highlights
- The MOAB is known as the 'mother of all bombs'
- The target was ISIS tunnels and personnel
Washington (CNN)The US military dropped America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan Thursday, the first time this type of weapon has been used in battle, according to US officials.A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed the "mother of all bombs," was dropped at 7:32 pm local time, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission. A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition.The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, stationed in Afghanistan and operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump told CNN.
Officials said the target was an ISIS cave and tunnel complex and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province."The United States takes the fight against ISIS very seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space, which we did," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said later Thursday. The strike "targeted a system of tunnels and cave that ISIS fighters use to move around freely."However, officials in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior and Nangarhar provincial government told CNN that, so far, they have no information about the US bomb drop.The military is currently assessing the damage. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb, according to the sources. The authority to deploy the weapon was granted to Nicholson by the commander of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, Stump said.This is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to the US officials. This munition was developed during the Iraq War.
White House: Bomb targeted ISIS tunnels, caves 00:47"As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Nicholson said in a statement following the strike."This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K," Nicholson added."US forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties with this strike. US Forces will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed in Afghanistan," read the statement from US Forces Afghanistan.The extent of the damage and whether anyone was killed is not yet clear. The military is currently conducting an assessment.The Pentagon is currently reviewing whether to deploy additional trainers to Afghanistan to help bolster US allies there.The Achin district is the primary center of ISIS activity in Afghanistan. A US Army Special Forces soldier was killed fighting the terror group there Saturday.There are about 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan and they regularly perform counterterrorism operations against ISIS in the Nangarhar Province.The US counterterrorism mission is separate from the NATO-led effort to train, advise and assist the Afghan army and police force.While ISIS is identified primarily with its presence in Iraq and Syria, US and coalition officials have long expressed concern about a growing presence in Afghanistan.ISIS first emerged in the summer of 2015 in the country's east, fast gaining ground and support, often among disaffected Taliban or Afghan youth.The Afghan offshoot's link to the organization's Syria-based leadership has been questioned. Many say in fact the Afghan ISIS fighters came from Pakistan and adopted the group's branding in order to get financing.DEVELOPING... MORE TO COME...
Thursday, April 13, 2017
21,000 pound bunker busting bomb dropped on ISIS caves in Afghanistan
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