Mark 8 nuclear bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mark 8 nuclear bomb was a nuclear bomb designed late 1940s and early 1950s, which was in service from 1952 to 1957.
Contents |
[edit] Description
The Mark 8 was a gun type nuclear bomb, which rapidly assembles several critical masses of fissile nuclear material by firing a fissile projectile or "bullet" into a hollow opening in a larger fissile "target", using a system which closely resembles a medium sized cannon barrel and propellant.
The Mark 8 was an early earth penetrating bomb (see nuclear bunker buster), intended to dig into the earth some distance prior to detonating. According to one government source, the Mark 8 could penetrate 22 feet (6.7 m) of reinforced concrete, 90 feet (27 m) of hard sand, 120 feet (37 m) feet of clay, or 5 inches (13 cm) of hardened armor plate steel. [1]
The Mark 8 was 14.5 inches in diameter across its body, 116 to 132 inches long depending on submodel. It weighed 3,230 to 3,280 pounds, and had a yield of 25-30 kilotons.
A total of 40 Mark 8 bombs were produced.
The Mark 8 was succeeded by an improved variant, the Mark 11 nuclear bomb.
[edit] Variants
The Mark 8 was considered as a cratering warhead for the SSM-N-8 Regulus cruise missile. This W8 variant was cancelled in 1955.
A lighter Mark 8 variant, the Mark 10 nuclear bomb, was developed as a lightweight airburst (surface target) bomb. The Mark 10 project was cancelled prior to introduction into service, replaced by the much more fissile material efficient Mark 12 nuclear bomb implosion design.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear warheads at nuclearweaponarchive.org
[edit] References
- ^ Weapon Design: We've done a lot but we can't say much by Carson Mark, Raymond E. Hunter, and Jacob E. Weschler, Los Alamos Science, Winter/Spring 1983, pp 159.
