Mk 15

Aircraft bombUnited StatesThermonuclear (staged)

No freely licensed photo of this device yet.

Yield · TNT equivalent1.69–3.8 Mt

Key specs

Country: United States
Design: Thermonuclear (staged)
Type: Aircraft bomb
Weight: 3.45 t
Length: 3.5 m
Diameter: 880 mm
In service: 1955–1965
Number built: 1,200

Overview

The first relatively lightweight American hydrogen bomb, small enough for medium bombers. In the Redwing Cherokee test of 1956 it became the first US thermonuclear weapon dropped from an aircraft.

Effect radii: estimates

Calculated for 3.8 Mt

Fireball, maximum radius: ≈ 1.6 km
Initial radiation, 500 rem (5 Sv): ≈ 4 km
Blast 5 psi: most buildings collapse: ≈ 11 km
Thermal: third-degree burns: ≈ 20 km
Blast 1 psi: windows shatter: ≈ 34 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

Tests and use

Date	Event	Site	Yield
May 14, 1954	Castle Nectar	Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands	1.69 Mt
May 21, 1956	Redwing Cherokee	Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands	3.8 Mt

Sources

Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Weapon Archive (Carey Sublette)
Mark 15 nuclear bomb, Wikipedia