8.5 metric tons of explosives

Trump is considering dropping the “Mother of All Bombs”

The GBU-43/B is known as the “Mother of All Bombs.”(Bild: APA/dpa)

The war against Iran is not going as Donald Trump would like; the U.S. president’s poll numbers are in the gutter ahead of the midterm elections. In an effort to turn the tide militarily, Trump is now even considering the use of the “Mother of All Bombs,” or MOAB for short. It is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. Army’s arsenal, containing 8.5 metric tons of explosives.

Should the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb—as the MOAB is technically known—actually be deployed, it would mark a new level of escalation in the current Middle East conflict.

According to American military strategists, the bomb is intended to target nuclear facilities and energy infrastructure in Iran. CNN reports that, according to insiders, the attack could take place shortly before or after the midterm elections for the U.S. Congress in early November.

High Symbolic and Destructive Power
Despite its symbolic and destructive power, there are doubts about the effectiveness of the “Mother of All Bombs” if used for the first time. Several U.S. officials claim behind closed doors that the U.S. government has not even developed the necessary strategy to actually end the war should the MOAB be detonated.

The GBU-43/B is known as the “Mother of All Bombs.”(Bild: APA/dpa)

Trump Doesn’t Want to Look Like a Loser
For months, Trump and his experts have been searching for ways to end the conflict—which is extremely unpopular among U.S. citizens and was instigated by the president himself. Trump doesn’t want to come across as a loser and has been proclaiming victory, but he recently admitted himself that the U.S. still has many “unfinished tasks” to carry out in Iran.  

A Difficult Search for Solutions
In his search for a way out, Trump has tasked his advisors with developing strategies that include, among other things, the use of the MOAB in attacks on energy infrastructure.

A possible target for the massive bomb could also be the nuclear facility near Natanz, as repeated threats from Trump suggest. Work on a nuclear weapons program is allegedly taking place there. According to an unnamed source, this could then allow for the announcement of at least a symbolic victory and the rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iran.

“Mother of All Bombs”

The MOAB has a nominal explosive yield of 11 metric tons of TNT equivalent. The key specifications are as follows:

• Technical designation: GBU-43/B MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast)
• Explosive weight: approximately 8,500 kilograms of Tritonal explosive
• Blast radius: Approximately 150 meters
• Type: Conventional, GPS-guided air-burst weapon of the United States Air Force
• Length: 9.14 meters
• Diameter: 1.03 meters
• Combat weight: 9 ,950 kilograms
• Unit price: $170,000

It is questionable whether the MOAB, despite its enormous explosive power, is even capable of destroying facilities hidden deep inside the mountain beneath layers of granite. The only certainty is that the GPS-guided bomb can cause catastrophic damage on the surface and level up to nine city blocks in a single strike. “It is definitely not designed as a deep-penetration warhead,” CNN quotes an insider as saying.

The psychological impact of a MOAB strike—which would most likely claim a great many lives, including among the civilian population—would presumably be enormous. Such a massive detonation would likely also unsettle and put pressure on enemy troops. Whether this would be enough to force the mullahs to the negotiating table, however, is questionable.

Numerous analysts consider a ground offensive to be more effective
Numerous analysts within the U.S. government are convinced that a true victory over Iran can only be achieved through the deployment of U.S. ground troops. Such a campaign, too, could end in bloodshed and cost the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers.

A drastic scenario that one would prefer to avoid. “Trump is keeping all options open to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons,” CNN quotes another White House source as saying. However, one thing is also clear: “Unfortunately, the president has put himself in a position where he is almost forced to take action...”