U.S. tests massive bomb

WASHINGTON (CNN) --The U.S. Air Force tested a new 21,000-pound bomb Tuesday, dropping the device from a military transport plane over a test site at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida just after 2 p.m., U.S. officials told CNN.

The Pentagon hopes the test will pave the way for use of the bomb -- should there be a war in Iraq -- against critical targets on the surface and underground.

It was the final test of the new Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, and the first to use actual explosives. Two previously undisclosed tests, one in February and one on Friday, were inert.

The Tuesday test was carried out at an Eglin Air Force Base test site, 60 miles east of Pensacola, Florida. The National Earthquake Information Center said it found no seismic activity as a result of the explosion.

Pentagon officials said they were examining results of the test to determine whether it worked as designed.

The Tuesday test was expected to generate so much noise that nearby residents were warned in advance. A 10,000-foot cloud was expected to result.

MOAB, privately known in military circles as "the mother of all bombs," has been under development since late last year. The bomb carries 18,000 pounds of tritonal explosives, which have an indefinite shelf life. It replaces the Vietnam-era "Daisy Cutter," a 15,000-pound bomb with 12,600 pounds of the less-powerful GSX explosives.

The Air Force may release video of the final test, in hopes of placing additional pressure on the Iraqi military.

As originally conceived, the MOAB was to be used against large formations of troops and equipment or hardened above-ground bunkers. The target set has also been expanded to include deeply buried targets.

But military officials tell CNN that the MOAB is mainly conceived as a weapon employed for "psychological operations."

"The goal is to not have a war. The goal is to have the pressure be so great that Saddam Hussein cooperates," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Short of that, an unwillingness to cooperate, the goal is to have the capabilities of the coalition so clear and so obvious that there is an enormous disincentive for the Iraqi military to fight against the coalition and there is an enormous incentive for Saddam Hussein to leave and spare the world a conflict."

Military officials say they hope the MOAB will create such a huge blast that it will rattle Iraq troops and pressure them into surrendering or not even fighting. Officials suggest perhaps the Iraqis might even mistake a MOAB blast for a nuclear detonation.

The MOAB is deployed on a pallet from a C-130 aircraft. It initially has a parachute, but as it deploys, the Inertial Navigation System and Global Positioning System take over. The bomb also has wings and grid fins for guidance.

CNN