The B43 was a United States air-dropped variable yield thermonuclear weapon used by a wide variety of fighter bomber and bomber aircraft.
The B43 was developed from 1956 by Los Alamos National Laboratory, entering production in 1959. It entered service in April 1961. Total production was 2,000 weapons, ending in 1965. Some variants were parachute-retarded and featured a ribbon parachute.
The B43 was built in two variants, Mod 1 and Mod 2, each with five yield options. Depending on version, the B43 was 18 in (45 cm) in diameter, and length was between 12.5 ft (3.81 m) and 13.6 ft (4.15 m). The various versions weighed between 2,061–2,116 lb (935–960 kg). It could be delivered at altitudes as low as 300 ft (90 m), with fuzing options for airburst, ground burst, free fall, contact, or laydown delivery. Explosive yield varied from 70 kilotons of TNT to 1 megaton of TNT.
The B43 used the Tsetse primary design for its fission stage, as did several mid- and late-1950s designs.
The B43 was one of four thermonuclear gravity bombs carried by Canadian CF-104 jets while serving in Germany between June 1964 and 1972.[1]
- ^ Clearwater, John, "Canadian Nuclear Weapons: The Untold Story of Canada's Cold War Arsenal", Dundurn Press, 1998, ISBN 1-55002-299-7, Chapter 3