NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 95 of 150

Correct — C, Afghanistan. The United States used the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast on 13 April 2017 in Achin district of Nangarhar province, in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, against tunnel complexes held by the Islamic State's Khorasan Province branch. It was the weapon's first use in combat, having been first tested in March 2003 shortly before the Iraq war. Afghan officials reported ninety-six militants killed; claims of civilian casualties were disputed at the time.

• (a)Iran — Iran was not a theatre of United States air operations in 2017, and no such weapon has been used there. Its place in this list is simply as a neighbouring country of the region.
• (b)Syria — Syria was an active theatre in this period, which makes it the most tempting wrong answer, but the weapon in question was used across the region's eastern edge, in Afghanistan, and not in Syria.
• (d)Somalia — Somalia has seen air operations against militant groups, but the Massive Ordnance Air Blast was not used there. The bomb is an area weapon designed for cave and tunnel systems, and the target that prompted its use was the tunnel network in Nangarhar.

The GBU-43/B is a satellite-guided bomb weighing about 9,800 kilograms, described as the most powerful conventional weapon in the United States arsenal. It is not a penetrator; it is designed to burst above the ground and to work through blast over a wide area, which makes it suited to soft or medium surface targets spread over a large space and to targets in a confined setting such as a deep canyon or a cave system. That is exactly why it was chosen against a tunnel complex.

Anchor the item to the September 2017 examination and be clear about the boundary between the verified and the disputed. The date, the province, the district, the target group and the fact that this was the weapon's first combat use are all on the record. The casualty figure of ninety-six is an Afghan official statement rather than an independent count, and reports of civilian deaths were contested by the military at the time. Current-affairs questions of this kind reward holding the country and the date firmly and treating the numbers as reported rather than established.

• The strike took place on 13 April 2017 in Achin district, Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan.
• The target was tunnel complexes held by the Islamic State's Khorasan Province branch.
• The GBU-43/B weighs about 9,800 kilograms and is satellite-guided.
• It was first tested in March 2003, days before the start of the Iraq war, and was used in combat for the first time in 2017.
• It is an air-burst area weapon rather than a bunker-penetrating one.

• Choosing Syria because it dominated the news of that period; the weapon was used in Afghanistan.
• Reading the bomb as a bunker-buster; it bursts above ground and works by blast over an area.
• Quoting the casualty figure as an established count rather than as a reported claim.

NDA sets defence and international current affairs in every paper, usually asking for the country, the date or the name of an operation or weapon.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The GBU-43/B, used by the United States in April 2017, is best described as

  • (a)a nuclear weapon
  • (b)a large conventional air-burst bomb
  • (c)an intercontinental ballistic missile
  • (d)an anti-satellite weapon

  Answer(b) a large conventional air-burst bomb — satellite-guided and designed to work through blast over an area.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Nangarhar province, in the news in April 2017, lies in

  • (a)Iraq
  • (b)Afghanistan
  • (c)Yemen
  • (d)Libya

  Answer(b) Afghanistan — its Achin district was the site of the strike.