B28 nuclear bomb
Encyclopedia
The B28, originally Mark 28, was a thermonuclear bomb carried by U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
tactical fighter bombers and bomber aircraft. From 1962 to 1972 under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing program, American B28s also equipped six Europe-based Canadian CF-104
Canadair CF-104
The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter was a modified version of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft built in Canada by Canadair under licence...
squadrons known as the RCAF Nuclear Strike Force. It was also supplied for delivery by UK-based Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Valiant
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
and Canberra
English Electric Canberra
The English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
aircraft assigned to NATO under the command of SACEUR.
Production history
The Mk 28 was produced from 1958 through 1966. It used the W28 lightweight, Class D warhead (also shared with the TM-76 MaceMGM-13 Mace
-See also:-External links:* * * * * * *...
surface-to-surface missile and the GAM-77 Hound Dog
AGM-28 Hound Dog
The North American Aviation Corporation AGM-28 Hound Dog was a supersonic, jet propelled, air-launched cruise missile. The Hound Dog missile was first given the designation B-77, then redesignated the GAM-77, and finally designated the AGM-28, permanently...
air-launched cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
). After 1968 it was redesignated B28.
Twenty different versions of the B28 were offered, distinguished by their yield and safety features. The B28 used the "building block" principle, allowing various combinations of components for different aircraft and roles. The B28 had a diameter of about 22 in (58 cm), with a length varying between 96 in (2.44 m) and 170 in (4.32 m) and weight of 1,700 lb (771 kg) to 2,320 lb (1,053 kg), depending on the model type and whether a parachute retard pack was fitted. The principal configurations were as follows:
- B28EX — (EXternal), streamlined external-carriage version for free-fall delivery (no parachute)
- B28RE — (Retarded External) streamlined external-carriage version with a parachute retarder (4 ft. pilot, 28 ft. ribbon chute)
- B28IN — (INternal) unstreamlined internal-carriage version for free-fall delivery, primarily for the Republic F-105 Thunderchief
- B28RI — (Retarded Internal) unstreamlined internal-carriage version with parachute retarder
- B28FI — (full Fusing Internal) unstreamlined internal-carriage version with parachute for laydown deliveryLaydown deliveryLaydown delivery is a mode of deploying a free-fall nuclear weapon in which the bomb's fall is slowed by parachute so that it actually lands on the ground before detonating. Laydown delivery requires that the weapon's case be reinforced so that it can survive the impact, and generally involves a...
; used only by SACStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
B-52B-52 StratofortressThe Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
s. The FI, for "Full Fuzing Internal" was developed to adapt to new low-level delivery techniques of the Air Force in the 1960s, and is the only model of this bomb equipped for air, ground, and delayed action burst.
The range of explosive yields was as follows:
- Mod 1 — 1.1 megaton TNT equivalentTNT equivalentTNT equivalent is a method of quantifying the energy released in explosions. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 gigajoules, which is approximately the amount of energy released in the detonation of one ton of TNT...
- Mod 2 — 350 kiloton TNT equivalentTNT equivalentTNT equivalent is a method of quantifying the energy released in explosions. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 gigajoules, which is approximately the amount of energy released in the detonation of one ton of TNT...
- Mod 3 — 70 kiloton
- Mod 5 — 1.45 megaton
The fuze
Fuze
Fuze Beverage, commercially referred to as just Fuze , is a manufacturer of teas and non-carbonated fruit drinks enriched with vitamins. Currently the brand consists of five vitamin-infused lines: Slenderize, Refresh, Tea, Defensify, and Vitalize...
mechanism on a B28 could be set for an air burst
Air burst
An air burst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target or a delayed armor piercing explosion....
or ground burst
Ground burst
A groundburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an artillery shell, nuclear weapon or air-dropped bomb that explodes upon hitting the ground...
detonation. A total of 4,500 B28s were produced. The last examples were retired in 1991.
Related designs
The B28 bomb design has been described as the origin of a series of related nuclear warheads. The nuclear fission first stage or primary, code-named the Python primaryPython primary
According to researcher Chuck Hansen, the W34 Python was a gas-boosted fission primary used in several designs of American thermonuclear weapons....
, was reused in several subsequent weapons.
Nuclear researcher Chuck Hansen
Chuck Hansen
Chuck Hansen compiled, over a period of 30 years, the world's largest private collection of documents on how America developed the atomic bomb. These documents were obtained through the U.S...
's research indicates that the Python primary was used in the US B28 nuclear bomb and the W28, W40
W40
The W40 nuclear warhead was an American nuclear warhead developed in the late 1950s and which saw service from 1959 to 1972. It was a fusion boosted fission bomb type....
, and W49
W49
The W49 was an American thermonuclear warhead, used on the Thor, Atlas, Jupiter, and Titan I ballistic missile systems. W49 warheads were manufactured starting in 1958 and were in service until 1963, with a few warheads being retained until 1975....
nuclear warheads.
Accidents and incidents
- 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash1961 Yuba City B-52 crashThe 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash refers to an accident on March 14, 1961, at Yuba City, California. A B-52F-70-BW Stratofortress bomber, AF Serial No. 57-0166, c/n 464155, carrying two nuclear weapons, that had departed from Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento, experienced an uncontrolled...
- 1966 Palomares B-52 crash
- 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash
Survivors
Four Mark 28 casings on their transporter are on display in the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
.
See also
- Red SnowRed SnowRed Snow was a British thermonuclear weapon. Its physics package was apparently similar, if not identical, to that of the United States W28 nuclear warhead used in the B28 nuclear bomb and AGM-28 Hound Dog missile, with an explosive yield of approximately 1.1 megaton.The Red Snow warhead was...
- B83 nuclear bombB83 nuclear bombThe B83 nuclear weapon is a variable yield gravity bomb developed by the United States in the late 1970s, entering service in 1983. With a maximum yield of 1.2 megatons, it is currently the most powerful atomic weapon in the US arsenal...
- List of nuclear weapons
- Python primaryPython primaryAccording to researcher Chuck Hansen, the W34 Python was a gas-boosted fission primary used in several designs of American thermonuclear weapons....
External links
- Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons, The Nuclear Weapon Archive