[A-List] US military: MOAB on site

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

US moves 21,000lb superbomb to Gulf

Stuart Millar
Friday April 11, 2003
The Guardian

The US has moved its most powerful conventional weapon to the Gulf, Pentagon
officials said yesterday, a development apparently designed to send a clear
message to Iraqi forces dug in around Saddam Hussein's stronghold of Tikrit
that they will be obliterated if they stage a last stand.

As coalition commanders turned their attention to northern Iraq, where the
last decisive battles of the war are likely to be fought, they ratcheted up
the psychological pressure by revealing that a single 21,000lb massive
ordnance air blast (Moab) bomb has been moved to an undisclosed forward air
base in the region.

"I can confirm the Moab is now in theatre," a Pentagon official told CNN.

"But I can't comment on whether there are any plans to use it."

The huge weapon, nicknamed the "mother of all bombs", is the largest
non-nuclear munition in the world. Its principal use is to terrify enemy
forces into submission by its presence alone.

Last month, shortly before the war began, the US released video footage of a
Moab test drop at Eglin air force base in Florida.

The images of the huge blast and the resulting mushroom cloud were made
public to persuade Iraqi forces to give up.

But the deployment of the Moab may also indicate that the US believes that
bunkers containing chemical or biological agents remain under Iraqi control,
or even that there is a threat of non-conventional weapons being used as
elite forces loyal to Saddam put up a final fight.

The Moab was designed to hit deeply buried targets before detonating with
such a powerful blast that any bio-chemical agents would be vaporised.

The size of a large family saloon car, it is so big that it cannot be
dropped from a conventional bomber. Instead it is dropped by parachute from
a C-130 transport plane before being guided via satellite to the target.