# First use of Mother of All Bombs: what's the status of the US arsenal? Lessons learned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394 "2017-04-13T18:18:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/1 "2017-04-13T18:18:43Z")
See query. “Lessons learned” can stay within GQ bounds quite easily, as has been done in many similar queries/threads with the military/technology/political matters on design and use and application in real war in our lives. \*\*[US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan after Green Beret killed/B] ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/2 "2017-04-13T18:25:12Z")
Damn those Moabites. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/3 "2017-04-13T18:29:15Z")
What is the question here? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/4 "2017-04-13T18:31:30Z")
I’m not sure what you’re asking, here… We’ve dropped these things plenty of times before, when we judged the tactical situation called for it, and I expect we have a fair number still in stores available for the next time we deem it necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/5 "2017-04-13T18:33:38Z")
Perhaps the answer is [Here](http://i.imgur.com/hpeW0Z5.gif)? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/6 "2017-04-13T18:36:11Z")
Just to clarify for the OP why his post is hard to understand: In the title of the post you seem to have asked three different questions: 1. When was this type of bomb first used? 2. What is the status of the US arsenal? (Unclear what that even means.) 3. What lessons were learned? (Even more unclear. What lessons? Learned by whom?) The body of the post doesn’t make it any more clear what you’re asking. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/7 "2017-04-13T18:36:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re asking, here… We’ve dropped these things plenty of times before, when we judged the tactical situation called for it, and I expect we have a fair number still in stores available for the next time we deem it necessary. All the stories say this is the first time used in combat. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/8 "2017-04-13T18:42:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > All the stories say this is the first time used in combat. Yeah, Chronos is thinking of [daisy-cutters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLU-82), not the [MOAB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-43/B_Massive_Ordnance_Air_Blast). ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/9 "2017-04-13T18:47:48Z")
It isnt some kind of nuclear device, just a very very big bomb, that you detonate before impact. So i am not sure what the question or lesson or what ever is here? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/10 "2017-04-13T18:56:32Z")
I don’t know the question in this either, I’m just grateful someone asked it so that I could [do a](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20135933&postcount=2) [callback](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20097897&postcount=8). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/11 "2017-04-13T18:57:56Z")
My guess is that it was a compromise between Pres. Trump and his advisors who had to convince him _not_ to use actual nukes. Not that nuking ISIS would be a bad thing, in my opinion… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/12 "2017-04-13T19:04:39Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not that nuking ISIS would be a bad thing, in my opinion… Sure, other than the dead civilians, the radioactive fallout, and the legitimizing of the use of nuclear weapons for anyone and everyone else in the world, it isn’t a bad idea at all. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/13 "2017-04-13T19:08:31Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Sure, other than the dead civilians, the radioactive fallout, and the legitimizing of the use of nuclear weapons for anyone and everyone else in the world, it isn’t a bad idea at all. Hey, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed… ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/14 "2017-04-13T19:29:03Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not that nuking ISIS would be a bad thing, in my opinion… Perhaps if you could get them all on some uninhabited atoll in the south pacific, unfortunately they are in close proximity to a lot of non baddies that would probably be a bit miffed at being everything from vaporized to burned to crushed to cancerized etc. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/15 "2017-04-13T19:36:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re asking, here… We’ve dropped these things plenty of times before, when we judged the tactical situation called for it, and I expect we have a fair number still in stores available for the next time we deem it necessary. > [@running\_coach](#): > > All the stories say this is the first time used in combat. This. How many left, budgeting and manufacturing line over and done? ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/16 "2017-04-13T19:42:25Z")
Did they name this bomb just to make Donald happy? ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/17 "2017-04-13T19:47:19Z")
If you resort to violence, you’ve already lost. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/18 "2017-04-13T20:03:10Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > How many left, budgeting and manufacturing line over and done? Sigh. Why can’t you write in complete sentences and say what you mean? Especially after it’s already been pointed out that your OP was unclear. “How many left”. Ok, I think I understand this; you’re asking how many more bombs of this type the US has in its arsenal. Not very clearly worded, but ok. “budgeting and manufacturing line over and done?” WTH does that mean? Is the word “budgeting” supposed to be shorthand for “how much does one of these bombs cost”? I don’t even know how to parse the rest of this string of words that I’ll grudgingly call a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/19 "2017-04-13T20:19:18Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Did they name this bomb just to make Donald happy? Umm no… **M** assive **O** rdnance **A** ir **B** last Mother of all bombs is to counter russia’s Father of all bombs. It replaced the daisey cutters in like 2008? Was Trump president in 2008? The “Lets make something up so i can say its a retarded trump thing” has really worn out it’s amusement, it’s like watching a 3 year old say the same thing over and over 900 times because it was funny once. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394/20 "2017-04-13T20:24:13Z")
[Apparently](http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-moab-bomb-cost-mother-of-all-bombs-2017-4) we have only 20 of them, at a cost of $16 million each. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-use-of-mother-of-all-bombs-whats-the-status-of-the-us-arsenal-lessons-learned/784394.md?page=2)