Mark 11 nuclear bomb

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mark 11 nuclear bomb" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Mark 11 nuclear bomb was an American

bomb.

Description

As with the Mark 8, the Mark 11 was a

(HEU), a gun-like barrel, and a powder charge and uranium bullet or projectile fired up the barrel into the target.

The Mark 11 was first produced in 1956, and was in service until 1960. A total of 40 were produced, replacing but not expanding the quantity of Mark 8 bombs. It was 14 inches (36 cm) in diameter and 147 inches (3.7 m) long, with a weight of 3,210 to 3,500 pounds (1,460 to 1,590 kg).

.

The two bombs reportedly used the same basic fissile weapon design, but the Mark 11 had a much more modern external casing designed to penetrate further and more reliably into the ground. The Mark 8 had a flat nose, much like a torpedo. The Mark 11 nose was a pointed ogive shape. The MK-11 also known as the MK-91 had variable yields by changing the target rings. A major difference over the MK-8 was that the MK-91 had an electric operated actuator as a safety device that would rotate a spline ring to prevent the projectile from being fired into the target rings. The MK-8 had no safety devices. Upon release from the delivery aircraft detonation would occur after the black powder fuzes burned 90-110 seconds. The MK-91 was a deep penetrating weapon in many surface materials. A "PHOEBE" polonium

increased the nuclear detonation efficiency.

See also

• List of nuclear weapons
• Mark 8 nuclear bomb
• Mark 1 Little Boy nuclear bomb

Citations

Bibliography

• Complete list of all US nuclear weapons