The US Air Force has developed the 21,000-lb., or 95-hundred kilogram, satellite-guided Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bombs (MOAB) as a successor to the the 15,000-lb. "Daisy Cutters" used in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The Air Force is said to call MOABs (pronounced MOE-ab) the mother of all bombs. As with the earlier Daisy Cutter, these huge bombs are dropped out of the rear of the C-130 cargo plane.



Unlike the Daisy Cutter, the MOAB is released without the use of a parachute. As a result, the aircraft releasing the bomb can fly at higher altitudes, thus making it safer for US pilots. This replacement for the BLU-82 bomb uses more of the slurry of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum used in the BLU-82. Other reports indicate that the MOAB might use tritonal explosive as opposed to the gelled slurry explosive of the BLU-82.



Testing began at Eglin as part of an Air Force Research Lab Technology Demonstration Project.



Work on the program began in 2002 and was set for completion in 2003.