New reports say President Donald Trump may be considering the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the MOAB or “Mother of All Bombs,” for use against Iranian forces and energy infrastructure.
The U.S. military has used the MOAB only once. In 2017, Trump authorized its deployment against an ISIS-linked cave and tunnel complex in Afghanistan.
The bomb is considered the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal. It weighs about 11 tons, carries nearly 19,000 pounds of explosives and has a blast radius of roughly one mile, according to Just Security.org.
Experts say the MOAB is massive by conventional standards, but a former defense official noted that even the smallest nuclear bombs are at least 900 times more powerful. Experts estimate each MOAB costs around $16 million.
The source report does not say when or whether a strike is planned.
