# Mother Of All Bombs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641 "2003-03-11T19:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/21 "2003-03-12T05:51:51Z")
“Tritonal explosives”? Why does it sound to me like the Iraqis could easily defeat this bomb if they just remodulate the phase inverters and route them through the main deflector dish? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/22 "2003-03-12T06:00:09Z")
FWIW, the residents of Moab, Utah are all up in arms about the naming of this bomb. They feel the government is bringing disgrace to their community. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/23 "2003-03-12T06:02:19Z")
I’m sorry, I have to: Dat’s Da BOMB! 😃 Sorry! Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![deborak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@deborak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deborak)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/24 "2003-03-12T06:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psychomonkey \* > \*\*And [here](http://www.msnbc.com/news/883752.asp?0cv=CB10) is the much requested video. Doesnt impress me all that much. Kinda pathetic for a psychological warfare tool isnt it? \*\* I saw the video, but it was kind of hard to get any perspective. Does anybody know if there is information about the size of the blast (i.e. area covered)? It just didn’t seem that big to me, is all, but if the camera was far away, it probably didn’t convey the size of the explosion very well. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/25 "2003-03-12T06:15:16Z")
psychomonkey, thanks for the link but I couldn’t make it work. (Something about cookies.) But I could see the initial photo. That was not what I saw two or three days ago. I think that I saw what pugluvr saw. In the video that I saw, the photographs were made from a nearby plane or helicopter. It looked like the bomb was dropped into a forest and immediately everything around it was incinerated. If I saw what I think I saw, the trees went down instantly in a rapidly expanding circle – just the way you may have seen them do in atomic blasts. Afterwards, there was a mushroom cloud. As pugluvr said, it is to be used to make the Iraqis think that the US has done “the unthinkable” (their words). So why would they put it on TV? Why broadcast that we have a device designed to fool them? ---
**Author:** ![Thomas\_Stearns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Thomas\_Stearns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thomas_Stearns)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/26 "2003-03-12T06:51:47Z")
Yeah I really don’t know what Guy Ritchie was thinking. . . Oh wait, I thought this thread was about Madonna’s movie: “Swept Away”. \ Thank you! I do weddings and birthdays! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/27 "2003-03-12T07:19:04Z")
Anyone know if Slim Pickens was involved in the testing? ---
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/28 "2003-03-12T07:59:14Z")
Found the link on fark.com! Click [here](http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5368620.htm) for a video of the bomb test. ---
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/29 "2003-03-12T08:01:29Z")
the non real player version [here](http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/030311-D-9085M-004.mpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/30 "2003-03-12T08:42:51Z")
What cracked me up in the video was the hissing sound shortly after the bomb seperated from the parachute, as if one of the observers was going “SHHHHH!”, afraid the talking of the other observers would keep him from hearing the explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Obvious\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Obvious\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obvious_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/31 "2003-03-12T11:59:59Z")
_Caveman voice_…Bomb… Big… _Caveman voice_ ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/32 "2003-03-12T12:39:30Z")
The worst thing about these bombs is not just the explosion, but the 4 mile radius shockwave it can. Its capable of destroying walls and sucking the air out of lungs or people it passes, and sometimes taking the lungs with them, cartoon style The spoiler if for those who don’t like TMI. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/33 "2003-03-12T12:53:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psychomonkey \* > \*\*And [here](http://www.msnbc.com/news/883752.asp?0cv=CB10) is the much requested video. Doesnt impress me all that much. Kinda pathetic for a psychological warfare tool isnt it? \*\* If you could see a 2,000 lb bomb dropped and detonated at the same range, you may be a little more impressed. Or a LOT more impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/34 "2003-03-12T13:18:47Z")
Just tell me this. WHY did they have to go and use some Biblical name for the Mother of All Bombs? As if “wars and rumors of wars” didn’t give End-Timers enough email forwarding ammo… ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/35 "2003-03-12T14:28:26Z")
The contained fireball and the lack of anything to give it scale hurts it’s image. What you can’t see is the actual impact area,the shockwave,etc I’ve seen a fair amount of video of daisy cutters - the less powerful bomb this is replacing - and seeing them explode over jungles and deserts & watching the shockwave makes one hell of an impression. Part of the campaign in 1991 was intense bombing and use of large ordnance that crushed the enemy mentally. Again, we must appreciate the irony in all this. This bomb can save lives because it will scare the crap out of the ememy when it goes off. Sure, it’ll kill a shitload of them, but a bigger shitload will be surrendering. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/36 "2003-03-12T14:46:58Z")
One thing I noticed on the Realplayer feed, is the scale of the blast cloud. If you look closely at the silhouette of the ground, you can see trees. They are _very_ small looking… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/37 "2003-03-12T15:06:54Z")
**Pugluvr** , I think based on your description what you and **Zoe** saw was video of the Daisy Cutter, the previous incarnation of the weapon. If those that made it are calling MOAB the real deal instead of that, then this is truly one awesome weapon indeed. My guess is that once we’ve established complete air superiority around Baghdad, we’ll drop several of them on strategic targets close enough to scare the crap out of the general populace. However, since these are delivered from a C-130, we better have complete superiority. I’m not military but I’d hate to think of what might happen if the delivering airship was hit by fire before it could deliver this beast. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/38 "2003-03-12T15:12:08Z")
Correction, a C-131. Still, huge radar cross-section. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641/39 "2003-03-12T17:11:13Z")
Actually it was dropped from a C-130… current model 4 engine cargo plane. The C-131, while some were converted to gunships, was basically a twin engine troop transport. Has not been used in anything but ANG service since the late '70’s. Not to nit-pick…you are right, either has a large radar return. I would think these MOABs would only be used after air supremacy had been achieved so it wouldn’t matter who saw them coming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-of-all-bombs/160641.md?page=1)