“Disassemblages” is best viewed on desktop.
The G BU (Gui ded Bom b U nit)-43/B, MO AB was re lease
d by Edu ard in 1/7 2 scal e (kit 67 2160) lat e la st yea r,
and was foll owed up b y th is re lease in 1/48 sc ale. In
U.S. A ir Force termi nology, M OAB is a Mass ive Or
dnance Ai r B last bo mb, which h is of ten refer red to as
the Moth er of A ll Bombs , and f or tho se who bu ild thi
s kit, you w ill li ke ly refer t o it a s I do as the M other
of All Br ass. The kit loo ks gre at buil t up, b ut you wil l
want so me exp erience wi th photoet ched bra ss if you d
ecide to cons truct one f or y our col lect ion. Up on op
ening th. is kit, you w ill find 18 gray re sin parts f or the
bomb it self, pal let side rail s, and on e ite m use d on the
b ack of the de livery pall et.
“The lessons / the conclusions…”
Th e MO AB is bu ilt by Dy netics a nd con tain s app
roxim ate ly 1 8,00 0 poun ds of triton al. Tri tonal is a
m ixtur e of TNT (8 0%) an d alu minum pow der (20
%). Th e alumin um im prov es the br isance of t he T
NT — th e spee d at wh ich th e explo sive deve lops it
s max imum press ure. T he ad diti on of a lumin um m
akes trit onal ab out 18 % mo re pow erful th an TNT a
lone. T he bomb weig hs 21, 000 poun ds and is 30 feet
lo ng and 40. 5 inch es in di ameter. The id ea be hind
an “air burs t” we apon, a s op posed to a we apon t
hat explod es on imp act wit h th e groun d, is t o in
crease its des truct ive rang e.
“…with which / the mother / occupies herself…”
The M OAB is a n air burs t we apon, th at is, it deton
ates abov e the gro und. Th is all ows its de structi ve en
ergy to di ssipate o ver the w idest pos sible surf ace are a
rath er th an bein g abs orbed by the g round imp act or ref
lect ed up war ds. It can be us ed both to demo lish sur face
tar gets and as an anti- person nel we apon. Th e ef fects a
re sim ilar to an y stand ard hig h ex plosive e weap on, but t
he size o f the bla st radi us (report ed to be a pproxim
ately 1 mile ) is what mar ks the MOA B a part from
small er muni tions. Whi le the fire ball caus es loca
lized de vasta tion, its le thal ity and d estructi ve ness is
prim arily the res ult of the di ssipatio n of the press ure
wav e. As wit h a ny expl osion, the wa ve creat es blast in
juries wh en it con tacts bo dy sur faces; gas fil led bodi ly
struc tures (lung s, ears, gas tro-intest inal trac t) are like
ly to be the mo st affect ed.
“…during her times / of defeat or / of waiting…”
DA VID’s S LING ® is a comp lete, Med ium to Lon g-
Range air and miss ile de fense sy stem that can co
mprise th e upp er tier of a mult i layer def ensive ar ray,
pro viding wid e cover age and ex tended pro tectio n ag
ain st the ful l spec trum of missile thre ats. Its m
ulti-miss ion inter ceptor, kn own as the Stun ner or Sky
Ceptor – a join t endeav or of RAFA EL and Ray theon – off
ers unmat ched flexi bilit y and a ffordabilit y. Combin ing
in no vative st eering con trol, mult i-prop ulsion, an d
an ad vanced see ker, it de feats high- volum e asym
metric t hreat s includin g tactic al ballist ic miss iles and
larg e- calib er rock ets. Easily integr ated in to a varie
ty of engag ement scen arios, it is desig ned for plug-
and-play in serti on in to air and mi ss ile defen se sy
stems.
“…(in epic theater / there is no / difference / between the two)—”
[…] a bility to c ount er and de feat an y cred ible con
vent ional milit ary thr eat fro m any in divi dual st ate
or pos sible coal ition of stat es or from no n-state act
ors, wh ile su staining mini mal dam ages and ca sual
ties, thro ugh the use of super ior mil itary me ans, pos
sessed in suf ficient qua ntity, in cluding we apons, com
mand, con trol, commun ication, in telligen ce, surv
eillance, an d recon naissanc e cap abilities th at in the ir
tech nical char acteri stic s are su peri or in capabilit
y to tho se of suc h other in divi dual or po ssible co
alition o f stat es or n on-st ate act ors.
“The mother / is praxis / incarnate.”
Note: This piece includes text from Walter Benjamin, Understanding Brecht (Verso, 2003) trans. Anna Bostock.