America just drew up plans to drop its biggest bomb on Iran
1 hour ago · 15 October 2026Share
A MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb) on display at the U.S. Air Force Armament Museum in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. File photo. Gatrfan · Public domain
The US military has drawn up new strike plans for Iran. And they include dropping the biggest non-nuclear bomb America has.
It's called the MOAB. CNN broke this story a few hours ago, citing five people who know the planning discussions.
So what triggers it? Donald Trump giving the order to restart combat operations against Iran.
First, the bomb. The MOAB weighs 21,600 pounds. It can flatten an area the size of nine city blocks. It is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the entire US arsenal.
One source told CNN that Trump has ordered the military to build extra strike packages against Iran. In the source's own words, that includes a lot of energy infrastructure and the potential use of a MOAB.
A second source went further. They said the plans for hitting Iran's nuclear sites — including a place called Pickaxe Mountain — explicitly call for using the MOAB.
So why does Pickaxe Mountain matter? The US and Israel believe Iran has stored parts of its nuclear programme there. Trump has threatened to strike it before, even after the US paused full combat operations against Iran earlier this year.
But here's the problem. Pickaxe Mountain is believed to be buried deep inside layers of granite. And the MOAB can't punch through rock that deep. It's a surface weapon.
A third source put it bluntly. They told CNN the MOAB says quote "great for huge area clearance but not much else" and is not designed as a deep penetration warhead.
The same source said that leaves Trump with a problem of his own making. Trump feels compelled to act. But without a weapon that can actually destroy the site, this stops being about military effect. It becomes about how it looks.
So that's the US military itself saying a strike on Pickaxe Mountain with this bomb would be about appearances, not destruction.
A fourth source said the military has built options that amount to what they called a fireworks show — strikes designed to give Trump a way out of the war, not to finish it.
A fifth source, a US official, said the next rotation of American troops in the Middle East is expected within weeks. And some of the troops leaving may not be replaced.
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Panoramic view of Qazvin in Iran. File photo. Alireza Javaheri · CC BY 3.0
There's a phrase buried in the planning that explains why. One source said the strikes under discussion would come before US forces pull back from the region — what the planning calls retrograde.
So here's the real plan on the table. Strike. Declare the war won. Pull out fast.
Some background. The US and Iran have been at war since the end of February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Iran hit back at Israel and Gulf states. America first used a MOAB in combat in 2017, on an ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan. 36 fighters were killed. No civilian deaths were reported.
Using it against Iran would be only the second time it's ever been used in combat. And the first time against an actual state.
And that blast radius cuts both ways. A bomb big enough to flatten nine city blocks, dropped on energy infrastructure near populated areas, would almost certainly risk killing civilians.
So has anyone actually decided to do this? No. A White House official says Trump keeps all options on the table to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon, but would not discuss any specific military plans.
A Pentagon official gave an equally guarded line, saying the Department of War plans for a wide range of scenarios to carry out presidential and defence-secretary direction.
And Trump is under real pressure at home. Republicans are bracing for backlash from voters over this war in the midterm elections. Speaking at a rally in Kalispell, Montana, Trump said Iran was asking in negotiations to be allowed to live, and that the war would be over one way or another.
His own advisers have spent weeks looking for a symbolic off-ramp. It started with trying to get the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
And the fighting hasn't stopped while all this is being planned. Attacks on ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz have picked up. At least ten vessels were hit in the week running up to this report. That's the highest number in any single week since the war began.
Advisers close to Trump have told CNN they don't actually know if his pledge to take no new action before the midterms is firm. It could change before election day.
So here's where this stands. The plan exists. The target exists. What doesn't exist yet is a weapon that can actually destroy what's sitting inside Pickaxe Mountain. And an order from Trump to use it anyway.
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