The
Mark 21 nuclear bomb was a nuclear
gravity bombAn unguided bomb is an aircraft-delivered bomb that does not contain a guidance system and hence, simply follows a ballistic trajectory.....
first produced in 1955, based on the results of
Operation CastleOperation Castle was a United States series of high-energy nuclear tests by Joint Task Force SEVEN at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954...
. While most of the shots of the Castle series were intended to test weapons intended for immediate stockpile, or which were already available for use as part of the Emergency Capability program, the first shot,
BravoCastle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, detonated on March 1, 1954, at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, by the United States, as the first test of Operation Castle...
was to test a design which would drastically reduce the size and costs of weapons of the first generation (
Mk 14For 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...
,
Mk 17The Mark 17 and Mark 24 were the first mass-produced hydrogen bombs deployed by the United States. The two differed in their "primary" stages. The MK 17/24 bombs were 24 ft 8 in long, 61.4 in diameter. They weighed 21 tons. The two weapons had yields in the range of 15 megaton TNT equivalent...
&
Mk 24The Mark 24 nuclear bomb was an American thermonuclear bomb design, based on the third American thermonuclear bomb test, Castle Yankee. The Mark 24 bomb was tied as the largest weight and size nuclear bomb ever deployed by the United states, with the same size and weight as the Mark 17 nuclear...
).
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The
Mark 21 nuclear bomb was a nuclear
gravity bombAn unguided bomb is an aircraft-delivered bomb that does not contain a guidance system and hence, simply follows a ballistic trajectory.....
first produced in 1955, based on the results of
Operation CastleOperation Castle was a United States series of high-energy nuclear tests by Joint Task Force SEVEN at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954...
. While most of the shots of the Castle series were intended to test weapons intended for immediate stockpile, or which were already available for use as part of the Emergency Capability program, the first shot,
BravoCastle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, detonated on March 1, 1954, at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, by the United States, as the first test of Operation Castle...
was to test a design which would drastically reduce the size and costs of weapons of the first generation (
Mk 14For 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...
,
Mk 17The Mark 17 and Mark 24 were the first mass-produced hydrogen bombs deployed by the United States. The two differed in their "primary" stages. The MK 17/24 bombs were 24 ft 8 in long, 61.4 in diameter. They weighed 21 tons. The two weapons had yields in the range of 15 megaton TNT equivalent...
&
Mk 24The Mark 24 nuclear bomb was an American thermonuclear bomb design, based on the third American thermonuclear bomb test, Castle Yankee. The Mark 24 bomb was tied as the largest weight and size nuclear bomb ever deployed by the United states, with the same size and weight as the Mark 17 nuclear...
). This device was known as "Shrimp" and the Castle Bravo shot was spectacularly successful. When the military characteristics of the new bomb, the TX-21 were specified, they included a required minimum yield. Quantity production of the Mk-21 started in December 1955 and ran until July 1956. The Mk-21C was proof tested as the
RedwingOperation Redwing was a United States series of 17 nuclear test detonations from May to July 1956. They were conducted at Bikini and Eniwetok atolls. The entire operation followed Operation Wigwam and preceded Operation Plumbbob. The primary intention was to test new, second-generation...
Navajo shot with a yield of 4.5 megatons. At 12 feet, six inches long, and only 56 inches in diameter and weighing less than half what the Mk-17/24 weapons did the Mk-21 was a significant improvement over its predecessors. Starting in June of 1957 all Mk-21 bombs were converted to Mk.-39Y1 bombs.