B83

Aircraft bombUnited StatesThermonuclear (staged)

B83 — Photo: U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Ken Hammond · Public domain · background removed

Yield · TNT equivalent1.2 Mt

Key specs

Country: United States
Design: Thermonuclear (staged)
Type: Aircraft bomb
Weight: 1.1 t
Length: 3.7 m
Diameter: 460 mm
In service: 1983 – present
Number built: 650

Overview

A variable-yield gravity bomb of up to 1.2 Mt, the highest-yield weapon in the US stockpile since the B53 was retired. It was the first US nuclear weapon designed from the start with insensitive high explosive, to rule out an accidental nuclear detonation.

About 650 were built from 1983. In 2022 the US government announced plans to retire it, with the B61 Mod 13 as its replacement.

Effect radii: estimates

Calculated for 1.2 Mt

Fireball, maximum radius: ≈ 1 km
Initial radiation, 500 rem (5 Sv): ≈ 3.2 km
Blast 5 psi: most buildings collapse: ≈ 7.5 km
Thermal: third-degree burns: ≈ 12 km
Blast 1 psi: windows shatter: ≈ 23 km

Estimated ground ranges for an air burst at the optimum height over flat, open ground, computed from the yield with standard scaling laws. These are not measurements: real effects depend on the height of burst, terrain, buildings and weather.

Formulas from: Glasstone & Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977), chapter II; Carey Sublette, Nuclear Weapons FAQ, section 5

Sources

Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Weapon Archive (Carey Sublette)
B83 nuclear bomb, Wikipedia