Mark 14 nuclear bomb

Mark 14 nuclear bomb
Mark 14 nuclear bomb.
The Castle Union test of the Mark 14 design.

For the Sinclair Research Ltd. SC/MP based computer system see MK14.

The Mark 14 nuclear bomb was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first solid-fuel staged hydrogen bomb. It was an experimental design, and only five units were produced in early 1954. It was tested in April 1954 during the Castle Union nuclear test and had a yield of 6.9 Mt. The bomb is often listed as the TX-14 (for "experimental") or EC-14 (for "Emergency Capability"). It has also been referred to as the "Alarm Clock" device though it has nothing to do with the design by the same name proposed earlier by Edward Teller and known as the Sloika in the Soviet Union.

The fusion fuel used by the bomb was 95% enriched Lithium isotope 6 lithium deuteride, which at the time was a scarce resource and chiefly responsible for its limited deployment. The Castle Bravo (shrimp device) showed that unenriched Lithium isotope 7 functioned as well for thermonuclear reactions as isotope 6. The Mk-14 bomb had a diameter of 61.4 inches and a length of 222 inches. They weighed between 28,950 and 31,000 lbs, and used a 64 ft parachute.[1]

The version tested at Castle Union used a RACER IV primary, and had 5 Mt of its total yield due to fission, making it a very "dirty" weapon.[2]

By 1956, the components of all of the five produced Mk-14 bombs had been recycled into Mark 17s.

Notes

  1. ^ List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons at NuclearWeaponArchive.org
  2. ^ *Operation Castle at NuclearWeaponArchive.org

References

  • Hansen, Chuck, "Swords of Armageddon," Sunnyvale, CA, Chucklea Publications, 1995.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mark 15 nuclear bomb — Mark 15 bomb The Mark 15 nuclear bomb, or Mk 15, was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first relatively lightweight (7,600 lb / 3450 kg) thermonuclear bomb created by the United States. The Mark 15 was first produced in 1955, in a… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 12 nuclear bomb — The Mark 12 nuclear bomb was a US designed and manufactured lightweight nuclear bomb which was built starting in 1954 and saw service from then until 1962. For unknown reasons, the design was nicknamed Brok . The Mark 12 was notable for being a… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 7 nuclear bomb — at USAF Museum Mark 7 Thor (or Mk 7 [1]) was the first tactical nuclear bomb adopted by US armed forces. It was also the first weapon to be delivered using the toss method with the help of the low altitude bombing system (LABS). The weapon …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 13 nuclear bomb — The Mark 13 nuclear bomb and its variant, the W 13 nuclear warhead, were experimental nuclear weapons developed by the United States from 1951 to 1954. The Mark 13 design was based on the earlier Mark 6 nuclear bomb design, which was in turn… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 18 nuclear bomb — The Mark 18 nuclear bomb, also known as the SOB or Super Oralloy Bomb, was an American nuclear bomb design which was the highest yield fission bomb produced by the US. The Mark 18 had a design yield of 500 kilotons. Noted nuclear weapon designer… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 8 nuclear bomb — A Mark 8 nuclear bomb. Closeup of the nose of a Mark 8 …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 6 nuclear bomb — A Mark 6 nuclear bomb. The Mark 6 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb based on the earlier Mark 4 nuclear bomb and its predecessor, the Mark 3 Fat Man nuclear bomb design. The Mark 6 was produced from 1951 1955 and saw service until 1962.… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 4 nuclear bomb — A Mark 4 bomb casing. The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb design produced starting in 1949 and in use until 1953. The Mark 4 was based on the earlier Mark 3 Fat Man design, used in the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki.… …   Wikipedia

  • Mark 11 nuclear bomb — The Mark 11 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb developed from the earlier Mark 8 nuclear bomb in the mid 1950s. Like the Mark 8, the Mark 11 was an earth penetrating weapon, also known as a Nuclear bunker buster bomb. The Mk 11 nuclear… …   Wikipedia

  • 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

Share the article and excerpts

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