B53 nuclear bomb
E440845
The B53 nuclear bomb was a high-yield, Cold War–era U.S. thermonuclear gravity bomb designed for strategic deterrence and bunker-busting missions.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | thermonuclear gravity bomb ⓘ |
| approximateNumberProduced | about 340 units ⓘ |
| blastEffect | massive overpressure over large area ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| deliveryMethod | air-dropped gravity bomb ⓘ |
| deploymentPlatform | strategic bomber aircraft ⓘ |
| designedDuring | late 1950s ⓘ |
| designedFor |
destroying hardened underground targets
ⓘ
high-yield ground shock ⓘ |
| designedToBeDeliveredBy |
B-47 Stratojet
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
B-52 Stratofortress NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| designedToSurvive | laydown impact before detonation ⓘ |
| designer | Los Alamos National Laboratory NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| diameter | about 50 inches ⓘ |
| dismantlementSite | Pantex Plant, Texas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| enteredStockpile | 1964 ⓘ |
| era | Cold War ⓘ |
| fullyDismantledBy | 2011 ⓘ |
| fuzing |
air burst
ⓘ
ground burst ⓘ laydown delivery ⓘ |
| governingAgency | United States Department of Defense NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| introduced | 1962 ⓘ |
| length | about 12 feet ⓘ |
| maximumYieldClass | multi-megaton ⓘ |
| nuclearProgram | U.S. strategic nuclear forces ⓘ |
| nuclearTestedAs | TX-53 design tests ⓘ |
| nuclearWeaponType | two-stage thermonuclear weapon ⓘ |
| oneOfLargestUSNuclearWeapons | true ⓘ |
| primaryMission | destroy deeply buried command-and-control bunkers ⓘ |
| productionEnded | 1965 ⓘ |
| removedFromActiveService | early 1980s ⓘ |
| replacedBy | B61-11 nuclear bomb NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| retired | 1997 ⓘ |
| safetyFeatures |
in-flight insertion design
ⓘ
strong-link weak-link mechanisms ⓘ |
| secondaryMission | countervalue city-targeting ⓘ |
| serviceEntry | 1962 ⓘ |
| stockpileRole | strategic reserve weapon ⓘ |
| storageConfiguration | ready-use configuration in U.S. stockpile ⓘ |
| successorConcept | earth-penetrating nuclear weapons ⓘ |
| usedFor |
bunker busting
ⓘ
counterforce missions ⓘ strategic deterrence ⓘ |
| usedIn | Titan II ICBM (as W53 warhead) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| warheadDesignation | W53 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| weight | approximately 8,850 pounds ⓘ |
| yield | 9 megatons of TNT ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.