US drops MOAB bomb in Afghanistan

[MomentsofSanity]

Not sure the legitimacy of the site

http://ijr.com/2017/04/847666-first-reports-coming-afghanistan-moab-killed-100-isis-fighters/

Reports I've seen today on multiple sites is 36 per Afghan military.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ps-non-nuclear-bomb-afghanistan-islamic-state

 

[MomentsofSanity]

yeah, that's not a MOAB, they explode in the air. there is also no chance we dropped a MOAB that close to a city.

You're right. That was a munition storage in Yemen that was bombed in 2015. Thus the secondary explosion from a penetrating bomb.

 

[Ns1]

We just dropped meals on wheels in Afghanistan.

Yay?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

We just dropped meals on wheels in Afghanistan.

Yay?

Hearts and minds wasn't working, so now we have to go for stomachs.

 

[FIVR]

Here is the actual strike, according to Fox anyways. Seems to be the same video CNN also has.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5398511816001/?#sp=show-clips



Mission Accomplished!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Here is the actual strike, according to Fox anyways. Seems to be the same video CNN also has.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5398511816001/?#sp=show-clips



Mission Accomplished!

Now that's more like it, out in the middle of nowhere as expected. That's a big f'ing bomb. Note the overpressure wave expanding, followed by the reversal of material at ground level nearby.

 

[Ajay]

Militarily, the GBU-43 made a lot of sense, especially the terrain. Part of the reason to use the 43, is the same as was the case for the "Daisy Cutter" in Vietnam - it's a terror weapon (terrorizing enemy troops, not civilians). This is a very aggressive strike designed to put the spring campaign of the of insurgents on the back foot. The MSM went nuts over reporting on the "Mother Of All Bombs" - way to miss the point!

Historically, foreign affairs and especially military affairs have been the last best refuge of many presidents (CIC). It's not really a big surprise that the Trump admin turned their attention toward external affairs in light of a horrible opening bid on domestic issues.

I'd like us to leave Afghanistan, but I haven't read about any good solution to prevent it from becoming an anti-western terrorist haven.

Right now the US is stuck with lemons vis-a-vis Middle East affairs, best we can do for now is make lemonade. There are allot of fundamental instabilities that are extant in the Middle East and it has been that way for a long time. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and our support for the Mujaheddin kicked off a litany of miscalculation and intervention in this region that has proven disastrous.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Reports I've seen today on multiple sites is 36 per Afghan military.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ps-non-nuclear-bomb-afghanistan-islamic-state

Looks like it is 36. No matter, killing 36 of them is still good in my book. Are some of you arguing that we shouldn't have done this?

 

[Ns1]

Nm

 

[Svnla]

$16 million USD per bomb and over $300 million USD to develop those bombs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-much-mother-bombs-costs-173900074.html

 

[MomentsofSanity]

$16 million USD per bomb and over $300 million USD to develop those bombs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-much-mother-bombs-costs-173900074.html

Highly unlikely that is accurate. The MOAB is wholly produced within the military, not private contractors. They don't do unit cost numbers etc...

I'm guessing someone has conflated or extrapolated those numbers based on the production cost of the GBU-57 from Boeing. That was its development cost.

 

[hal2kilo]

Highly unlikely that is accurate. The MOAB is wholly produced within the military, not private contractors. They don't do unit cost numbers etc...

I'm guessing someone has conflated or extrapolated those numbers based on the production cost of the GBU-57 from Boeing. That was its development cost.

What is the military entity that does that. Have any links? Not doubting, just seems odd.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

What is the military entity that does that. Have any links? Not doubting, just seems odd.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAlester_Army_Ammunition_Plant

McAlester is where MOAB is produced. It all falls under the Joint Munitions Command.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Munitions_Command

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Highly unlikely that is accurate. The MOAB is wholly produced within the military, not private contractors. They don't do unit cost numbers etc...

I'm guessing someone has conflated or extrapolated those numbers based on the production cost of the GBU-57 from Boeing. That was its development cost.

The GBU-57 was built in house at 170K per unit, now 225K in today's dollars. What we don't know is what replacement costs would be.

 

[Thebobo]

ops MT

 

[WelshBloke]

Interesting little article about the aftermath.

The Mother of All Bombs: How badly did it hurt IS in Afghanistan? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39705128