THE MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS

MOAB is the second largest non-nuclear bomb in the world. It was developed by Albert J. Weirmorts of The Air Force Research Laboratory, United States of America in the year 2003. The MOAB stands for Massive Ordnance Air Blast and it is commonly known as The 'Mother of All Bombs'. MOAB is 30 feet in length and about 40.5 inches in diameter. It weighs around 9,525 kilograms and because of the fact that it is very heavy, it cannot be dropped from conventional fighter jets. A Cargo Aircraft such as Lockheed Martin C-130 is used for dropping this bomb.


The MOAB



Albert J. Weirmorts (Right) and Joseph Fellenz (Left) look at the MOAB model before it was painted and tested

Inside these Lockheed Martin C-130 Aircrafts, MOAB is carried on cradles resting on airdrop platforms. Then, it is dropped by deploying parachutes, which also extract the cradle platform from the aircraft. Shortly after launch, the drogues are realeased and the bomb falls unretarded. GPS satellite guidance system is employed to guide MOAB to it's target.


Lockheed Martin C-130 Aircraft: One which is employed to drop MOAB

MOAB is an 'Air Burst' ordnance meaning it bursts in air just before hitting the ground. When the bomb falls unretarded from the parachute, the kinetic energy increases at a faster rate and the pressure inside the bomb also increases. When this pressure inside the bomb reaches it's peak pressure, the bomb bursts. This happens generally when the bomb is 10-6 feet above the ground. This results in more destruction as if the bomb would have burst after it hit the ground, then there would be less destruction as a huge amount of energy from the bomb would have been absorbed by the surface of the earth.  



MOAB is highly efficient in destroying underground bunkers, caves and mines. It's efficiency is about 1 mile/radius. However, it is always observed to cause more impact than that. Trinitrotoluene popularly known as TNT is used as an explosive material in MOAB. TNT is mixed with 20% of Aluminium powder to increase it's impact efficiency. 

 
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is mixed along with 20% Aluminium powder and this mixture acts as a explosive in MOAB

MOAB was dropped recently at ISIS Underground Bunker Complex in Afghanistan on 14th April,2017 to destruct the ISIS bunkers and militants. Since, it was dropped about 90 bodies of ISIS militants have been recovered so far. 


Impact of MOAB observed after it was dropped at ISIS Underground Bunker Complex in Afghanistan on 14th April,2017

MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb in US Military's arsenal, however it is not the largest non-nuclear bomb in the world. The largest non-nuclear bomb in the world is 'Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power', which is nicknamed as The 'Father of All Bombs' or FOAB . It is Four times as powerful as MOAB. FOAB was developed in 2007 for use by the Russian Military. 


'Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power' or 'The Father of All Bombs'

There is no doubt that this bomb causes huge amount of impact when dropped but the impact generated is far less than the nuclear bombs. Therefore, a fair comparison between MOAB and Nuclear Bombs is not possible.

 

MOAB Explosion VS A Nuclear Bomb Explosion

THE MISSILES OF INDIA

The use of missiles in India for warfare is not new. It dates back to the 18th century. Tipu Sultan of Mysore used rockets called 'Mysorean Rockets' for warfare which gave him an edge over the enemy forces. Later on, The Britishers exported this technology to Britain where they began manufacturing rockets and technological advancement under the rule of British East India Company was restricted. As a result, India started lagging behind in this field.

The Mysorean Rockets

The research and development in missile technology again assumed after the independence of India in 1947 under the eminent leadership of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The First Prime Minister of India,the Special Weapons Development Team - to research guided missile weapons development was constituted.The Government of India continuously started providing financial assistance to the Missile development programme and Defence Research and Development Laboratory under DRDO was formed whose only job was missile research and development.

The Defence Reasearch and Development Laboratory

It's first anti-tank missile was a totally indigenous product, which was successfully test-fired. The project laid the foundation of India's missile programme and many from this group who were involved in the development of the anti-tank missile to be used in Sarath ICVs manufactured at Ordnance Factory Medak, went on to set up the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad in the proximity of the ordnance factory, which became the production agency of missiles in India. (In the 1970s, SS-11B anti-tank missiles were manufactured under license from France at the BDL.)

Other scientists at DRDO simultaneously focused on building a guidance package – an essential part of a long-range missile that determines its path and accuracy to hit a target. A platform-based inertial navigation system (INS) was developed and tested, on board an Avro aircraft, in 1974–75. Subsequently, an INS was built for both missiles and an aircraft, and this was tested in 1979 on board a Canberra aircraft.

By the start of 1980's, DRDL had developed competencies in the fields of propulsion, navigation and manufacture of materials. Thus, India's political and scientific leadership, which included prime minister Indira Gandhi, Defence Minister R. Venkataraman, V.S. Arunachalam (Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister), decided that all these technologies should be consolidated.

This led to the birth of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program and Dr. Abdul Kalam, who had previously been the project director for the SLV-3 programme at ISRO, was inducted as the DRDL Director in 1983 to conceive and lead it. He decided that DRDL would pursue multiple projects in this area simultaneously. Thus, four projects were born under the IGMDP:

• Short range surface-to-surface missile (code-named Prithvi)
• Short range low-level surface-to-air missile (code-named Trishul)
• Medium range surface-to-air missile (code-named Akash) and
• Third-generation anti-tank missile (code-named Nag).

The Agni missile was initially conceived in the IGMDP as a technology demonstrator project in the form of a re-entry vehicle, and was later upgraded to a ballistic missile with different ranges. As part of this program, the Interim Test Range at Balasore in Orissa was also developed for missile testing.

After India test-fired the first Prithvi missile in 1988, and the Agni missile in 1989, the Missile Technology Control Regime (then an informal grouping established in 1987 by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) decided to restrict access to any technology that would help India in its missile development program. Some of the major technology which was denied, included:

• phase shifters for the phased array radars for Akash (denied by the USA).
• magnesium alloy used in Prithvi's wings (denied by Germany).
• servo-valves needed for the electro-hydraulic control systems of Agni and Prithvi.
• gyroscopes and accelerometers (denied by France).
• processors – Intel said it would not give India chips for the computers used in Prithvi and Agni.

To counter the MTCR, the IGMDP team formed a consortium of DRDO laboratories, industries and academic institutions to build these sub-systems, components and materials. Though this slowed down the progress of the program, India successfully developed indigenously all the restricted components denied to it by the MTCR. 

In 2011, the DRDO Chief V K Saraswat had stated that "indigenous content" in India's strategic missiles had gone up to such a level, with ring-laser gyros, composite rocket motors, micro-navigation systems etc., that "no technology control regime" could derail them any longer.

Indian Missile Projects-

Project Devil was one of two early liquid-fuelled missile projects developed by India, along with Project Valiant, in the 1970s. The goal of Project Devil was to produce a short-range surface-to-air missile. Although discontinued in 1980 without achieving intended success, Project Devil, led to the later development of the Prithvi missile in the 1980s.

Project Valiant

Project Valiant was one of two early liquid-fuelled missile projects developed by India, along with Project Devil in the 1970s. The goal of Project Valiant was to produce an ICBM. Although discontinued in 1974 without achieving full success, Project Valiant, like Project Devil, helped in the development of the Prithvi missile in the 1980s.

IGMDP

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) was a Ministry of Defence (India) programme for the research and development of a comprehensive range of missiles. The program was managed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Ordnance Factories Board in partnership with other Indian government research organisations.The project started in early 1980s and ended in 2008 after these strategic missiles were successfully developed. The last major missile developed under the program was the Agni 3 intermediate-range ballistic missile which was successfully tested on 9 July 2007.

On 8 January 2008, the DRDO formally announced the successful completion of the IGMDP. It added that the strategic integrated guided missile program was completed with its design objectives achieved since most of the missiles in the program had been developed and inducted by the Indian armed forces.

Dr. Abdul Kalam, who conceived and worked on this program, later also became the President of India.

Akash

Akash  is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defence system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ordnance Factories Board and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in India.The missile system can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at altitudes up to 18,000 m.

Akash Missile

Nag

Nag  is a third generation "Fire-and-forget" anti-tank missile developed in India. It is one of five missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP). Nag has been developed at a cost of ₹3 billion (US$44.6 million).

NAG Missile

Prithvi Missile Series

Prithvi Missiles are tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM)

Name	Type	Stage(s)	Range	Payload	User
Prithvi-I (SS-150)	SRBM	One	150 km	1000 kg	Army
Prithvi-II (SS-250)	SRBM	Two	250 km – 350 km	500 kg – 1000 kg	Air Force, Army
Prithvi-III (SS-350)	SRBM	Two	350 km – 600 km	250 kg – 500 kg	Army, Air Force, Navy

Dhanush is a system consisting of a stabilisation platform (Bow) and the Missile (Arrow). It is intended for the Indian Navy, to be fired from ships against other ships or land targets. Dhanush can fire modified versions of Prithvi-II or Prithvi-III. (Source-Wikipedia)

Prithvi-II Missile

Agni missile series

The Agni missile series started as a "Re-Entry Vehicle" project (later rechristened as Agni Technology Demonstrator) in the IGMDP. The missiles in this series include:

Name	Type	Stage(s)	Range
Agni-I	MRBM	One	700 km – 1,200 km
Agni-II	IRBM	Two	2,000 km – 2,500 km
Agni-III	IRBM	Two	3,000 km – 5,000 km
Agni-IV	IRBM	Two	2,500 km – 3,700 km
Agni-V	ICBM	Three	5,000 km – 8,000 km
Agni-VI	ICBM	Three	10,000 km – 12,000 km

The Agni-I, Agni-II and Agni-III missiles were developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. (The Defence Research and Development Organisation formally announced the successful completion of the IGMDP after the third test of Agni-III on 7 May 2008.)

Agni-5 Missile

Agni-IV was tested on 15 November 2011 and has a range of 3,000 km (1,900 mi), and can carry a warhead of 1 tonnes. It is a two-stage missile powered by solid propellant. It is 20 metres (66 feet) tall and has a launch weight of 17 tonnes. A new missile Agni-V with 5,000 km (3,100 mi) range and MIRV is being developed and was tested on 26 December 2016. Agni-V shares the similar design as Agni-III with an extra stage added to further increase the range by 1,500 km (930 mi). Agni-V will be road mobile and it has been stated that all Indian missiles developed after this will be road mobile as well.

Agni-VI is an Intercontinental ballistic missile reported to be in rudimentary stages of development by India, and until May 2012 was not officially confirmed by either the Government of India or the DRDO. Reportedly, it will be capable of being launched from submarines or from land and to strike a target of over 10,000 km (6,200 mi) with MIRV-ed warheads.Top DRDO scientists have previously asserted that India has almost all the equipment and technology needed to develop ICBMs, "but where the warhead should go or what the range should be will have to be a political call"

K Missile series

TYPE	RANGE	Weight	Warhead	length	Status
K-15	750 km	10 tonnes	1 tonne	10 m	K-15/B-05 in series production. Land-based missile awaiting clearance.
K-4	3,500–5,000 km	17 tonnes	1 tonneS 2.5 tonnes	10 m	As of January 2011, at least six more tests to be performed before induction in 2017.
K-5	6,000 km	Unspecified	1 tonne	Unspecified	Under Development by DRDO

K-IV 

Shaurya

The Shaurya missile is a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile developed for use by the Indian Army. Capable of hypersonic speeds, it has a range of 600 km and is capable of carrying a payload of one-tonne conventional or nuclear warhead.

Shaurya Missile 

BrahMos

Mach 3 Supersonic Cruise Missile developed in collaboration with Russia. Land Attack and Anti-ship variants in service with the Indian Army and Indian Navy. Sub-Launched and Air Launched variants under development or testing.

BrahMos Missile

BrahMos II

Mach 7 Hypersonic Cruise Missile in development collaboration with Russia.

Nirbhay

Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile under development and testing.

Prahaar

Prahaar  is a solid-fuelled Surface-to-surface guided short-range tactical ballistic missile that would be equipped with omni-directional warheads and could be used for hitting both tactical and strategic targets.

Prahar Missile

Astra

Astra is a 'Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile' (BVRAAM) being developed for the Indian Air Force.

Astra Missile

Helina

A variant of NAG Missile to be launched from Helicopter is being developed under the Project named HELINA (HELIcopter launched NAg). It will be structurally different from the Nag.

Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV)

Project HSTDV is a technology demonstrator aimed to demonstrate autonomous flight of a Scramjet Integrated Vehicle using kerosene.

Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme

Prithvi Air Defence (PAD)

The Prithvi Air Defence missile has been named as Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor. It has a maximum interception altitude of 80 km and is capable of engaging the 300 to 2,000 km class of ballistic missiles at a speed of Mach 5. DRDO is currently working on a missile for intercepting targets of 5,000+ km range and engaging them at altitudes of up to 150 km.

Advanced Air Defence (AAD)

Also known as Ashwin Ballistic Missile Interceptor. The Advanced Air Defence (AAD)/ Ashvin Advanced Defence interceptor missile operates at endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 20-40 kilometres (12-24 miles).

Anti-Radiation Missile

India is developing an Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) that will help to destroy enemy advance warning systems. Production of the ARM is being done on a priority basis by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), which specialises in missile development. Such missiles can be mounted on the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter planes.

Anti-Satellite Missile

India is developing anti satellite weapons. Following the successful Agni-V ICBM test, this looks all the more achievable.

During an interview with India Today in 2013 Dr. V. K. Saraswat said,

"Today, India has all the building blocks for an anti-satellite system in place.

We don't want to weaponise space but the building blocks should be in place. Because you may come to a time when you may need it. Today, I can say that all the building blocks (for an ASAT weapon) are in place. A little fine tuning may be required but we will do that electronically. We will not do a physical test (actual destruction of a satellite) because of the risk of space debris affecting other satellites."

According to Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, "it is important to discuss various issues concerning space security, and ASAT is one of them." Increasing awareness of space debris and continued efforts to develop and implement international measures to tackle the problem is a major concern for India as well as other countries.

According to some researchers, "as it stands today, in space, the probability of debris hitting a satellite is more than an adversary taking your satellite down."

Photo Gallery-

1. Prithvi-II

2. Prithvi-III

3. Trishul

4. Helina

5. NAG

6. AGNI-V

7. BrahMos

8. Nirbhay

9. Astra

10. Prahar

AIRLIFT OF INDIANS DURING 1990 GULF WAR

The 1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait was carried out from August 13, 1990 to October 20, 1990 after the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq which led to the commencement of the Gulf War from 2nd August,1990. During the time the Gulf War broke out, about 2,10,000 Indians were living in Kuwait. Most of these either worked in Kuwaiti companies as labourers or workers or did small scale business. Some eminent businessman such as Mathunny Mathews, Harbhajan Singh Vedi, Abey Vericad, V.K. Varrier and Ali Hussain from India were also struck in the warzone. 


Mathunny Mathews

In the meantime, The Royal Family of Kuwait escaped to Saudi Arabia and the normal public suffered huge casualties and losses. Moreover, the Indian citizens were struck in the war zone. In the meantime, the Indian businessman Mathunny Mathews had convinced his group of Indian businessmen to help the Indian community living there by providing them with the food stuffs and shelter. They also met the ambassador in The Indian Embassy in Kuwait and made him aware of the situation at ground zero. They also demanded help from The Government of India by evacuating them from warzone. 

The Indian Ambassador in Kuwait contacted high command in India and made him acquainted from the present scenario and also the demand of Indian citizens to evalcuate them.The Indian Government responded and a delegation was sent to meet Saddam Hussain and convince him for evacuation of Indians. He listened to the plans of Indian delegation and agreed to facilitate the repatriation of Indian citizens.

But, there were four major problems in this evacuation-
1. Many Indian workers had submitted their  passports to their respective company owners who had either fled or were missing.
2. Nearly 2,00,000 Indians were needed to be evacuated and this was not possible by military aircrafts.
3. Indians who had settled there were to leave their everything and return to India.
4. It was not possible to fly civillian aircrafts in warzone as anytime any missile may strike resulting in heavy loss of life and money.

The Government of India sorted out this passport issue by issuing temporary passports to the Indian citizens using certain defined traits as Indian marks of identification and buses were used to transport Indians to Amman, Jordan as the airspace in Kuwait was not clear. 

Initially, The Indian Government sent a few military air crafts to evacuate the elderly, women, children and sick people. But, soon it was realised that it was impossible to evacuate such a huge population of Indian citizens struck there by military air crafts. 

Indians inside a military aircraft being airlifted from Amman


So, The Government of India turned to Air India, the official flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of India for help. Moreover, The Government of India along with some state governments such as Kerala began to supply food stuffs to the Indians struck in war zone and waiting to be evacuated from Amman,Jordan as the evacuation would last for a longer period of time. An Ilyushin-76 aircraft of The Indian Air Force was also deployed for establishing a clear communication link between New Delhi and Kuwait government officials. 

Ilyushin-76 Aircraft of The Indian Air Force which was deployed

The evacuation operation by Air India and Indian Airlines started from 18th August,1990 and a hotel room in Amman was made the operating centre of this operation. Some Indians struck there were angry as they were expecting a quicker intervention by the Indian Government but the then Central minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. I.K. Gujral brought their anger under control and in no time had them shouting,'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. 


Inder Kumar Gujral, the then Civil Aviation Minister of India



An Air India Boeing 707 at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman

In the meanwhile, a problem had arised as an Air India crew was struck in Kuwait airport as they had flown their plane over there earlier and were now not allowed to return back as the airspace was not clear and military air crafts were flying in the Kuwaiti airspace. The Indian Foreign minister slew to Baghdad, Iraq and Kuwait and urgently arranged their repatriation. The permission to fly the Air India crew was granted by the high command. A Pakistani Airline crew which was also struck over there in similar situation was also evacuated on humanitarian grounds. 


Indian Airlines was actively involved with Air India in this operation

Indian people had taken shelter in various schools and other buildings in various parts of Amman. They had to travel from various places to the Queen Alia International Airport, Amman. It could not be predicted when these people would arrive and due to this, flights got delayed a lot. The crew had to stay on duty for a much longer time than the stipulated duty hours which created a lot of tiffs. 

Indians boarding an Air India plane at  Queen Alia International Airport, Amman


However, they successfully completed this evacuation and this evacuation became the largest evacuation on world's history. About 1,70,000 Indians were airlifted as rest refused to return back to India as they had settled and had to leave their everything. The ones who refused took refuge in Jordan till the Gulf war got over. Air India and Indian Airlines jointly made 448 flights from Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,Mumbai,India and this mission finally ended on 20th October,1990 making it 'The Largest Airlift Operation in World's History'.Later on, Air India and Indian Airlines was awarded by 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' and The Government of India for this successful operation. 


Air India and Indian Airlines got their names into into 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' with this evacuation 

A Bollywood movie 'Airlift' starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur and directed by Raja Krishna Menon was made on this evacuation and it became a Box-Office hit.


A poster of the 'Airlift' movie