The Mark 11 nuclear bomb was an American
nuclear bomb developed from the earlier
Mark 8 nuclear bomb
The Mark 8 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb, designed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which was in service from 1952 to 1957.
Description
The Mark 8 was a gun-type nuclear bomb, which rapidly assembles several critical masse ...
in the mid-1950s. Like the Mark 8, the Mark 11 was an earth-penetrating weapon, also known as a
nuclear bunker buster
A nuclear bunker buster, also known as an earth-penetrating weapon (EPW), is the nuclear equivalent of the conventional bunker buster. The non-nuclear component of the weapon is designed to penetrate soil, rock, or concrete to deliver a nuclear ...
bomb.
Description
As with the Mark 8, the Mark 11 was a
gun-type nuclear bomb (see also:
gun-type assembly weapon). It used a fixed large target assembly of
highly enriched uranium or 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 in diameter and long, with a weight of . Yield was reportedly the same as the Mark 8, 25 to 30
kiloton
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a ...
s.
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
An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking.
Etymology
The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...
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 initiator increased the nuclear detonation efficiency.
See also
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List of nuclear weapons
This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states.
United States
US nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting wi ...
*
Mark 8 nuclear bomb
The Mark 8 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb, designed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which was in service from 1952 to 1957.
Description
The Mark 8 was a gun-type nuclear bomb, which rapidly assembles several critical masse ...
*
Mark 1 Little Boy nuclear bomb
External links
Allbombs.htmllist of all US nuclear warheads a
nuclearweaponarchive.org
{{United States nuclear devices
Cold War aerial bombs of the United States
Gun-type nuclear bombs
Nuclear bombs of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s