B41 nuclear bomb

B41 nuclear bomb

The B41 was a thermonuclear weapon deployed by the United States Strategic Air Command in the early 1960s.

Development

The development of the Mk 41 began in 1955 with a USAF requirement for a Class B (high-yield, over 10,000 lb/4,545 kg) weapon. It was based on the "Bassoon" test device first fired in the Redwing Zuni test of 27 May 1956. An ICBM warhead version of the weapon was cancelled in 1957.

Composition

The Mk 41 was the only three-stage thermonuclear weapon fielded by the U.S. It had a deuterium-tritium boosted primary, probably with lithium-6-enriched deuteride fuel for the fusion reaction. Two versions were deployed, Y1, a "dirty" version with a tertiary stage encased with U-238, and Y2, a "clean" version with a lead-encased tertiary. It was the highest-yield nuclear weapon ever deployed by the United States, with a maximum yield of 25 megatons, this weapon weighed in at 4850 kg. It remains the highest yield-to-weight ratio of any weapon created. The US claimed in 1963 that it could produce a 35 megaton fusion bomb, and put it on a Titan II (3700 kg payload), almost doubling the yield-to-weight ratio of the B-41.

The Mk-41 was of the usual long cylindrical shape and weighed 10,670 lb (4,840 kg). The nuclear fusion warhead was of the Teller-Ulam type and used a 40-100 kiloton Implosion type nuclear fission primary fueled by HEU to trigger the Lithium 6 Deuteride fusion fuel. Between 500 and 1000kg of Lithium 6 Deuteride was used and was contained in a cylinder of natural Uranium with an inner casing of U-238.

The Mk-41 was an example of a fission-fusion-fission type thermonuclear weapon, known by the term "thermonuclear triple threat". Such devices were so called "dirty" H-bombs because when detonated they produce very large amounts of intensely radioactive fallout that often caused illness or death to those with whom it came into contact.

Physical characteristics

The weapon was 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m) long, with a body diameter of 52 in (132 cm). It weighed 10,670 lb (4,850 kg). It was carried only by the B-52 Stratofortress and B-47 Stratojet. It could be deployed in free-fall or retarded (parachute) configuration, and could be set for airburst, groundburst, or laydown delivery.

Service life

The Mk 41 (designated B41 from 1968 on) entered service in 1961. About 500 of these weapons were manufactured between September 1960 and June 1962. The Mk 41 was progressively phased out of service from 1963 in favor of the B53 nuclear bomb. The last B41s were retired in July 1976.

Efficiency

During its operation, the Mk-41 was the most efficient known thermonuclear weapon in terms of yield to actual weight, with a 5.2 Megaton/ton ratio (based on a 25 megaton yield).

See also

*List of nuclear weapons
*Nuclear weapon yield


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mark 36 nuclear bomb — The Mark 36 nuclear bomb The Mark 36 was a heavy high yield United States nuclear bomb designed in the 1950s. It was a thermonuclear bomb, using a multi stage fusion secondary system to generate yields up to about 10 megatons. [1] …   Wikipedia

  • B41 — may refer to : * B41 (Croatia), a Croatian expressway connecting Vrbovec to Hungarian border * Bundesstraße 41, a German road * B41 (New York City bus) in Brooklyn * B41 nuclear bomb * HLA B41, an HLA B serotypeB 41 may refer to : * B 41… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear weapon yield — Logarithmic scatterplot comparing the yield (in kilotons) and weight (in kilograms) of all nuclear weapons developed by the United States. The explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy discharged when a nuclear weapon is… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear weapon design — The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. Here the Gadget device is prepared for the first nuclear test: Trinity. Nuclear weapon designs are physical,… …   Wikipedia

  • B41 — Le boîtier d une bombe thermonucléaire B41. La B41 était une bombe thermonucléaire développée par le Strategic Air Command des États Unis au début des années 1960. C était la plus puissante bombe produite par les États Unis avec une puissance… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of nuclear weapons — This is a list of nuclear weapons ordered by state and then type within the states.United StatesNote: US nuclear weapons of all types (bombs, warheads, shells, and others) are numbered in the same sequence starting with the Mark 1 and (as of… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear weapons and the United States — United States Nuclear program start date 21 October 1939 First nuclear weapon test 16 July 1945 …   Wikipedia

  • Teller-Ulam design — The Teller–Ulam design is a nuclear weapon design which is used in megaton range thermonuclear weapons, and is more colloquially referred to as the secret of the hydrogen bomb . It is named after two of its chief contributors, Hungarian born… …   Wikipedia

  • Teller–Ulam design — The basics of the Teller–Ulam design. Radiation from a primary fission bomb compresses a secondary section containing both fission and fusion fuel. The compressed secondary is heated from within by a second fission explosion. The Teller–Ulam… …   Wikipedia

  • B53 — Термоядерная бомба B53 Термоядерная бомба Mark 53 в музее ВВС США. Тип ядерная бомба …   Википедия

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”