GBU-43/B MOAB

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast, (also known as Mother of All Bombs or MOAB) is a large yield bomb, said to be the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S arsenal. It was first made in 2003 and still is used today by the USA. It was first deployed on an enemy cave complex in Afghanistan.

The MOAB on display

The GBU-43/B MOAB is a thermobaric weapon, which means it's packed with a very fine explosive powder that gets ejected out of the bombshell when the bomb has reached its target. This fine powder then is ejected into a big cloud of powder, which mixes with the air, oxidizing the explosive powder. Then, the oxidized fuel mix gets ignited, producing a very large explosion. Thermobaric weapons carry only fuel instead of fuel and oxidizer, like other bombs do, since oxygen is already in the atmosphere. Only carrying fuel allows for a much bigger explosion with the same bomb size. Some thermobaric weapons are so powerful that they are similar to small nuclear weapons in terms of explosion size and intensity.