[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3/11/03 ]
Giant bomb tested in Fla., shakes nearby buildings
Associated Press
Department of Defense / AP
In this series of images from video, the U.S. Air Force's 21,000-pound bomb Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, detonates during a test Tuesday in Florida.
WASHINGTON -- The Air Force tested the biggest conventional bomb in the U.S. arsenal for the first time Tuesday, a 21,000-pound bomb that could play a dramatic role in an attack on Iraq.
Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was considered a success.
"It did what they expected it to do. Nothing malfunctioned," she said.
The bomb, officially called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, and unofficially dubbed the Mother of All Bombs, is guided to its target by satellite signals. It was dropped out the rear of a C-130 transport plane, officials said.
The bomb is so powerful that its detonation had been expected to create a towering cloud visible for miles.
A Pentagon official who reviewed a videotape said the bomb created a tall cloud of debris that billowed into the sky but did not resemble the mushroom-shaped cloud of a nuclear blast. The Air Force videotape was to be released later.
Some area residents felt the bomb's detonation but said the explosion was not as big as they had expected.
"It was kind of weak," said Patricia Sariego, a receptionist at the Best Western hotel in Navarre, on the southern edge of Eglin. She said the blast shook doors.
Asked about the test at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would not say whether it would be used in an Iraq war, and he refused to discuss its capabilities.
"This is not small," he said.
Separately, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars that if President Bush decides to invade Iraq, it will be a "war of liberation" as well as an effort to rid Iraq of weapons banned by the United Nations.
"Those very weapons are the source of our concern," said Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. "The issue is not about Iraqi oil. If the United States had wanted access to Iraqi oil, we could have dropped our whole policy 12 years ago, lifted the sanctions and let Saddam Hussein have his weapons of mass destruction."
"No, if there's going to be a war, it will be a war to disarm Saddam's weapons of mass terror," he said. "But it will also be, like wars that you fought in, a war of liberation, a war to secure peace and freedom."
The U.S. military is putting the final pieces of combat power in place in anticipation of an order by Bush to attack Iraq and depose Saddam, Iraq's president. More than 200,000 U.S. forces are within striking range.
The Air Force bomb is much bigger than any other conventional bomb. The next-biggest is the 15,000-pound BLU-82, dubbed the Daisy Cutter, created during the Vietnam War to clear landing areas in the jungle.
Jake Swinson, spokesman for the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said there was no onsite news coverage of the MOAB test for safety reasons, but an Air Force chase plane took video that would be made available later to news organizations.
Other officials said the Air Force expected to have the bomb available for use in an Iraq war.
"If the war fighter wanted to use it, I'm sure we could make some available," Swinson said, adding that he had no information whether or when the weapon might be used in combat.
Giant bomb tested in Fla., shakes nearby buildings
Associated Press
Department of Defense / AP
In this series of images from video, the U.S. Air Force's 21,000-pound bomb Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, detonates during a test Tuesday in Florida.
WASHINGTON -- The Air Force tested the biggest conventional bomb in the U.S. arsenal for the first time Tuesday, a 21,000-pound bomb that could play a dramatic role in an attack on Iraq.
Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was considered a success.
"It did what they expected it to do. Nothing malfunctioned," she said.
The bomb, officially called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, and unofficially dubbed the Mother of All Bombs, is guided to its target by satellite signals. It was dropped out the rear of a C-130 transport plane, officials said.
The bomb is so powerful that its detonation had been expected to create a towering cloud visible for miles.
A Pentagon official who reviewed a videotape said the bomb created a tall cloud of debris that billowed into the sky but did not resemble the mushroom-shaped cloud of a nuclear blast. The Air Force videotape was to be released later.
Some area residents felt the bomb's detonation but said the explosion was not as big as they had expected.
"It was kind of weak," said Patricia Sariego, a receptionist at the Best Western hotel in Navarre, on the southern edge of Eglin. She said the blast shook doors.
Asked about the test at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would not say whether it would be used in an Iraq war, and he refused to discuss its capabilities.
"This is not small," he said.
Separately, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars that if President Bush decides to invade Iraq, it will be a "war of liberation" as well as an effort to rid Iraq of weapons banned by the United Nations.
"Those very weapons are the source of our concern," said Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. "The issue is not about Iraqi oil. If the United States had wanted access to Iraqi oil, we could have dropped our whole policy 12 years ago, lifted the sanctions and let Saddam Hussein have his weapons of mass destruction."
"No, if there's going to be a war, it will be a war to disarm Saddam's weapons of mass terror," he said. "But it will also be, like wars that you fought in, a war of liberation, a war to secure peace and freedom."
The U.S. military is putting the final pieces of combat power in place in anticipation of an order by Bush to attack Iraq and depose Saddam, Iraq's president. More than 200,000 U.S. forces are within striking range.
The Air Force bomb is much bigger than any other conventional bomb. The next-biggest is the 15,000-pound BLU-82, dubbed the Daisy Cutter, created during the Vietnam War to clear landing areas in the jungle.
Jake Swinson, spokesman for the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said there was no onsite news coverage of the MOAB test for safety reasons, but an Air Force chase plane took video that would be made available later to news organizations.
Other officials said the Air Force expected to have the bomb available for use in an Iraq war.
"If the war fighter wanted to use it, I'm sure we could make some available," Swinson said, adding that he had no information whether or when the weapon might be used in combat.
