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Get you up to speed: US considers using the Mother of All Bombs against Iran – how powerful is it? | News Tech
The US military is reportedly considering the use of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) weapon against Iran’s energy infrastructure and nuclear sites. The plans involve President Donald Trump, who faces pressure over the ongoing conflict, although no attack has been ordered and the White House has not confirmed the use of the MOAB.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, developed during the Iraq War, stands as the US military’s most powerful non-nuclear weapon, capable of creating a blast wave that extends for a mile. While no official order for deployment has been given, discussions continue regarding the bomb’s potential use against Iranian targets, with implications for a possible military withdrawal from the region before the US midterm elections.
The White House has not confirmed any plans to deploy the MOAB in Iran, but discussions among Trump’s advisers indicate a desire for a “definitive” end to the conflict, especially ahead of the midterm elections. As the US military continues to evaluate its strategy, pressure mounts from Republican voters regarding the ongoing war and the lack of a clear path to resolution.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain whether President Trump has definitively ruled out further military action before the midterm elections.
US military considers deploying MOAB against Iranian energy and nuclear sites
The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) weapon is reportedly being considered for use in Iran (Picture: Reuters)
The US military has drawn up plans to potentially unleash the ‘mother of all bombs’ on Iran’s energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if Donald Trump gives the order to resume combat, according to reports.
The proposed strikes would mark a major escalation in the conflict, with the US potentially deploying its largest non-nuclear bomb for the first time in its war against Iran.
It comes as the president faces growing pressure to end the war, which has now gone on for more than six months.
The proposed bomb is the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, which is also known as the MOAB, according to multiple US officials who told CNN.
How powerful is the Mother of All Bombs?
It is the US military’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb.
The blast wave stretches for a mile in every direction and is created by 18,000lb of TNT.
It is 30ft in length and costs $16,000,000 to build.
For scale, the yield of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of about 15,000 tonnes of TNT.
Russia’s Father of All Bombs (FOAB) is claimed to be the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the world with a blast yield of 44 tonnes of TNT.
The weapon, which weighs nearly 1,000kg, is one of the most powerful conventional bombs in America’s arsenal, but officials have reportedly questioned whether deploying it would change the course of the conflict.
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The bomb is said to be capable of destroying a large surface area, but it likely lacks the capability to penetrate deep enough under the surface to destroy suspected nuclear facilities.
The GBU-43/B, also known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, detonates during a test in Florida in 2003 (Picture: Getty)
President Donald Trump is facing growing pressure to end the unpopular war (Picture: Getty)
One source said the plans referred to launching the attacks before a US military withdrawal from the region, potentially allowing the administration to declare victory before pulling out.
Another source said plans for strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, including the underground site known as Pickaxe Mountain, also explicitly included the possible use of the MOAB.
With the US midterm elections approaching, Republicans are also bracing for a potential backlash from voters over the conflict.
Despite months of American bombing, there is little sign of a negotiated settlement between Washington and Tehran.
US officials have privately questioned whether the White House has a wider strategy linking its military plans to a clear route out of the war.
Trump and his advisers have spent months discussing options that could provide what they describe as a ‘definitive’ end to the conflict, particularly as opposition among American voters has grown.
The weapon is one of the most powerful conventional bombs in America’s arsenal (Picture: AP)
The president has also reportedly rejected suggestions from some allies that he should simply withdraw American forces, arguing that doing so could look like a defeat.
Although Trump has publicly said he would not take further military action before the midterm elections, advisers have privately questioned whether that position is final.
The White House has not publicly confirmed that the MOAB will be used, and the reported plans do not mean an attack has been ordered.
However, the bomb, which was developed during the Iraq War and first deployed by Trump during his first term when he authorised the military to bomb ISIS positions in Afghanistan in 2017, could be used for ‘psychological operations’.
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October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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