Mark 7 nuclear bomb

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Mark 7 (Mk-7) nuclear bomb

The Mark 7 was the United States’ first tactical fission bomb. It could be dropped from fighter-bombers using toss bombing with LABS (low-altitude bombing system). It was tested in Operation Buster-Jangle and in the MET test, where a substitution lowered the yield to 22 kilotons.

Key features:
- Weight: about 1,600 pounds
- Length: about 15 feet 2 inches
- Diameter: 30 inches
- Yields: 8, 19, 22, 30, 31, or 61 kilotons (by using different pits)
- Design: levitated pit and an implosion system with 92 explosive lenses
- Fuzing: airburst or contact; later versions used automatic arming

Service and production:
- In service 1952–1967; produced July 1952 to February 1963
- Built about 1,700–1,800 bombs; roughly 1,350 warheads (W7)
- Carried by aircraft such as the F-84, F-100, F-101, and B-57
- The same warhead design also formed the BOAR rocket, Honest John, Corporal missile, Betty depth charge, and Nike Hercules
- Supplied to the UK under Project E for NATO in Germany (designated 1,650 lb HE MC)

Display: a Mk-7 casing is shown at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and another at Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver.