In a show of military might seemingly aimed at intimidating Iraq鈥檚 armed forces, the US has tested one of the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed.
The bomb detonated on Tuesday at a test site at Eglin Air Force Base in northwest Florida, generating a shock wave felt several kilometres away. Officials said the bomb could be used in Iraq.
The new weapon is named the Massive Ordnance Air Burst (MOAB), but has also been dubbed the 鈥淢other of All Bombs鈥�. The 9.7-tonne device contains only conventional explosives, but creates a mushroom cloud and a shockwave similar to that of a small nuclear explosion. It has blast range of several hundred metres.
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Military officials say the weapon would be used to destroy multiple military targets, clear trenches and destroy landmines. 鈥淚f you had a cluster of tanks, you could literally knock them over with the force of it,鈥� says Paul Rogers, a military expert at Bradford University, UK, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very powerful bomb.鈥�
But Rogers told 快猫短视频 the weapon is also designed to have a psychological impact: 鈥淭he blast of Tuesday鈥檚 test was heard over a very wide distance.鈥� Furthermore, the Department of Defense also released a videotape of the blast.
Parachute deployment
Technical details of the MOAB are said to be classified, but the device is described by military officials as 鈥渟imilar鈥� in design to the BLU-82, or Daisy Cutter. This was first used by the US military in the Vietnam War and most recently in Afghanistan.
The seven-tonne BLU-82 contains an explosive mixture of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminium in an aqueous suspension. This is detonated a few feet above the ground after the bomb is parachuted from low altitude from the back of a Hercules transport aircraft.
By exploding just above the ground, rather than in it, such weapons direct more of their force into enemy targets. On-board satellite navigation means the MOAB can be dropped from much higher altitude without sacrificing accuracy.
The US Air Force Research Lab has said it is developing an even bigger, 13-tonne, version of the weapon. In February, leaked Pentagon documents also revealed US military plans to develop a new breed of 鈥渕ini鈥� nuclear weapons designed for use in conventional warfare.