[DailyStar] In April last year, the US military detonated a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) dubbed the "mother of all bombs" on ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan.
Dramatic footage of the extraordinary attack ‐ the first time the large-yield 18,000-pound bomb had been used on the battlefield ‐ stunned the world.
Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the MOAB was described by analysts as the largest non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal at the time.
However, another colossal explosive called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) has trumped the MOAB, according to Michael T Klare, a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College.
The apocalyptic weapon, known as the "father of all bombs" (FOAB), is packed with 30,000 pounds of explosives ‐ heavier than two African elephants.
Initially, the Pentagon intended to use the FOAB to destroy underground nuclear facilities in Iran.
Now, amid simmering tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the "GBU-57 is being readied for use against North Korea", Mr Klare, a defence commentator, said.
Writing for The Nation, security expert Mr Klare considered the possibility the US military is planning to use the FOABs to destroy Kim Jong-un’s cache of underground nuclear weapons.
He wrote: "It is no secret that the Defense Department is preparing for possible preventive attacks on North Korean nuclear and missile facilities, supposedly intended to prevent the Kim Jong-un regime in Pyongyang from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the continental United States.
"National Security Adviser HR McMaster has openly called for strikes of this sort, sometimes described as the ’bloody nose’ option."
The FOAB may be the "solution" to the problem of provoking "massive retaliation" by North Korea that could result in "vast numbers of civilian casualties", he said.
Three B-2 stealth bombers were sent to Andersen Air Force Base in the US territory of Guam ‐ just miles from North Korea ‐ in January.
The US Air Force regularly dispatches military aircraft to the island, in the Western Pacific, for routine displays of its firepower.
B-2 stealth bombers, however, are understood to be the only US war plane sanctioned to carry and discharge the 30,000-pound FOAB.
Referring to the deployment of the B-2s, Mr Klare said "it is impossible to view this move without considering possible plans for attacks on North Korea".
He added: "In any scenario involving a preemptive strike on North Korea, the B-2 would be expected to play a pivotal role, flying well into enemy airspace to deliver its payload on high-value targets, presumably underground nuclear and missile facilities.
"As the only bomber capable of delivering the GBU-57, their presence on Guam at this time is, to say the least, highly provocative."
The US Air Force has refused to comment on whether FOABs have been deployed to Guam.
But given the "rushed enhancement" of the FOAB, Klare said the prospect of a preemptive attack on North Korea should "have us all highly concerned".
Two US Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS planes have been sent to the Korean Peninsula on a US Air Force mission, military aircraft trackers show.
The £175million ($244million) aircraft were deployed from Kadena Air Base, in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, at around 7.32pm local time (10.32am GMT).
Details of the mission were not immediately available, but the state-of-the-art aircraft are designed to gather intelligence on enemy positions prior to an attack. 
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