Afghanistan as a Western Front against China

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Hmm the MOAB? I guess it might kill everything within a few hundred meters. So all very impressive, but it still won't do much good as modern warfare is open order. One would have to be lucky to catch just one company within the blast radius.

The bomb is meant to be dropped from a C-130 Hercules. A big slow moving aircraft like that is only going to be used in places where there are no air defenses left.

If Wikipedia is correct then USA built 17 of them, so not a lot. But of course it would take several months for the buildup of forces and supplies (took 6 months for Desert Storm) so maybe they have time to build some.

The US Army estimated that a well dug-in Soviet Motor Rifle Battalion would take about 20% losses from three 1 KT nukes (from Field Manual 71-123). An attacking formation caught in the open would take a much harder hit, but nonetheless a good example of what to expect from the "puny" MOAB.

Edit:

The MOAB was a propaganda weapon meant to look scary in a way that everyone could understand: huge size and mushroom cloud. There is really no purpose for such a weapon. Similar sized bombs like the Massive Ordnance Penetrator does have a job though.

1. Psych impact is one useful military tool. The Daisy Cutters and MOABs do have that impact.

2. In addition to a large blast area (larger than a soccer pitch), the nature of the munition sucks oxygen out of the surrounding area over a much larger radius. This can create a "stunning" effect on defenders even where heavily entrenched or within unsealed bunkers. This "stunning" effect can be exploited tactically.

3. The drop altitude of these munitions is well over a mile in the air. Absolute air superiority is NOT required as this puts most smaller AAA and most hand-held SAMS out of business. Suppression of guided munitions (SAMS) prior to such an assault would be required.

[CBR]

I'm quite sure you are thinking about a thermobaric/fuel air weapon. The MOAB is just a very big thin-walled conventional bomb. It will no doubt have a large area of effect and that will include some stunned enemy personnel.

For the similar weight one can fire off 200 155mm shells or 30 MLRS rockets and that would produce quite an effect too.

If it is supposed to be used against concentrations of enemy units, then one would have to expect to face the organic air defenses of such units. Such stuff has to be suppressed as cargo aircrafts are sitting ducks otherwise.

And yes, one can easily keep a high enough altitude to prevent getting hit by man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) but that requires a suppression of an even larger area to prevent far away air defenses from engaging.

I don't know if Air Supremacy or "just" Air Superiority is needed, but it has to be good IMO.

All big and slow aircrafts, cargo, tanker or AWACS, really do not belong anyway near a front unless one has really good control of enemy air defenses. The AC-130H/U Spectre is a great counter-insurgency platform but I don't think anyone expects it to have a big role in a conventional war.

[rory_20_uk]

Have you seen the area here? it's massive. To have a strategic effect you'd need a vast number of bombs, to be then followed up by a large army quickly which in turn would require further suppression of all the mortars / artillery / missiles over an even greater area lest they blast the consolidating forces to pieces. All the while China would be re-deploying short and medium range missiles to rain down on targets. Seeing this movement would be a lot harder since most satellites have long since been destroyed. Smashing a few will create enough shrapnel to shred most others, which in turn explode into shrapnel.

This gains you a few hundred miles of worthless terrain to extend one's supply chain over whilst winning hearts and minds that the locals should be pleased they're living on a cinder as America is freeing them from their livelihoods / possessions and probably family...

[ICantSpellDawg]

Great Article from foreign policy on pre vs post invasion Afghanistan. Really good stuff.