Mark 16 nuclear bomb
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The Mark 16 nuclear bomb was a large thermonuclear bomb, based on the design of the Ivy Mike, the first hydrogen bomb test fired. The Mark 16 is more properly designated TX-16/EC-16 as it only existed in Experimental/Emergency Capability versions.
The TX-16 was notable because it was the only deployed thermonuclear bomb which used a cryogenic liquid deuterium fusion fuel, the same fuel used in the Ivy Mike test device. The TX-16 was in fact a "weaponized" version of the "Sausage" design tested in the Ivy Mike shot. This required both a considerable reduction in weight of the actual physics package, but the replacement of the cryogenic system with a system for replenishing Deuterium which had boiled off from Dewar flasks installed in the carrier aircraft. The carrier aircraft was to be the B-36 as modified under Operation Barroom. Only one B-36 was so modified. The TX-16 shared a common forward and aft casing sections with the TX-14 and TX-17/24 and in the EC version was almost indistinguishable from the EC-14. The TX-16 was scheduled to be tested during the Bravo series as the "Jughead" device until the overwhelming success of the "Shrimp" device tested as the "Bravo" shot.
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[edit] Specifications
The TX-16 bomb was 61.4 inches in diameter, 296.7 inches long, and weighed 39,000 to 42,000 pounds. Design yield was 6-8 megatons. [1] [2]
[edit] Manufacture and service
Five units were manufactured in January 1954, and deployed in an interim "emergency capability" role with the designation EC-16.
By April 1954 they were all retired, as the alternative solid-fueled thermonuclear weapons had been tested successfully. These solid fuel thermonuclear bombs were far easier to handle, requiring no cryogenic temperature materials or cooling system. It was replaced with the five EC-14 weapons brought up to an acceptable standard as the TX-14 and production Mark 17 nuclear bombs in mid 1954. [1]
The planned test of the TX-16 bomb in Operation Castle was cancelled due to the spectacular (and frightening) success of the "Shrimp" device in the Castle Bravo test.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Allbombs.html at the Nuclear Weapon Archive, accessed 2 October 2006
- ^ Historical United States Nuclear Weapons at Globalsecurity.org (see also globalsecurity.org), accessed 2 October 2006
- Hansen, Chuck, "Swords of Armageddon," Sunnyvale, CA, Chucklea Publications, 1995.
- O'Keefe, Bernard J. "Nuclear Hostages," Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983, ISBN 0-395-34072-1.
