The Mother Of The Mother Of All Bombs | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Thu, Nov 11, 2004

The Mother Of The Mother Of All Bombs

New Ordnance Is 9,000 Pounds Heavier Than MOAB

Remember that bomb the Air Force developed last year, just as the US was preparing to invade Iraq? Weighing 21,000 pounds, it was so big and so heavy that it had to be lashed to a pallet and dropped from the back-end of a cargo plane. It was the be-all end-all in air-dropped munitions. It was officially dubbed Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- MOAB -- but it was quickly dubbed the Mother of All Bombs.

Well, move over, Mom. The Air Force is bringing out the MOP.

The 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator is designed to bust bunkers or topple tall buildings with a single bomb. Why 30,000 pounds -- 9,000 pounds more than the MOAB (above)?

"The reason it's heavier than MOAB is that it has to penetrate a target."

That word from Fred Davis, a director at the USAF Research Lab's Munitions Directorate.

MOP will be extensively tested over the next 16 months at Eglin AFB in the Florida Panhandle. Unlike its massive predecessors, MOP will be shaped like a bomb and capable of being dropped from a B-52 or B-2. MOP could be deployed in the field as early as 2006.

FMI: www.af.mil

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Capella Aircraft Corp FW1C50

Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Timber Tiger Touts Curtiss Jenny Replicas

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.04.25): Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO]

Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne Affordable Flyers 07.03.25: Sonex HW, BlackShape Gabriel, PRA Fly-In 25

Airborne 07.02.25: TikToker Arrested, Vietnam A/L Ground Hit, ATC Modernization

Airborne-NextGen 07.01.25: Volocopter Returns, B23 Energic, Iran Tech In UAVs?

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC