Mark 8 nuclear bomb
The Mark 8 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb, designed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which was in service from 1952 to 1957.
Mark 8 nuclear bomb
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- Mark 8 nuclear bomb
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- aerial bomb
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wikidata · Q286965 · wikipedia · Mark 8 nuclear bomb
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mark 8 nuclear bomb • Origin — United States • Type — Nuclear weapon • Is Explosive — yes • Designer — Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory • Production Date — 1951–1953 • Number — 40 • Weight — 3230 - • Length — 116 to 132 inches (290 to 340 cm) • Diameter — 14.5 in • Filling — Highly enriched uranium • Yield — 25 - • Illustration — Closeup of the nose of a Mark 8 • Illustration — Closeup of the tail of a Mark 8 • Illustration — Diagram of the Mk8
Variants
Variants
The Mark 8 was considered a cratering warhead for the SSM-N-8 Regulus cruise missile. This W8 variant was cancelled in 1955. A lighter Mark 8 variant, the Mark 10 nuclear bomb, was developed as a lightweight airburst (surface target) bomb. The Mark 10 project was cancelled prior to introduction into service, replaced by the much more fissile-material-efficient Mark 12 nuclear bomb implosion design.
On display
On display
A Mark 8 casing is on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Description
The Mark 8 was a gun-type nuclear bomb, which rapidly assembles several critical masses of fissile nuclear material by firing a fissile projectile or "bullet" over and around a fissile "target", using a system which closely resembles a medium-sized cannon barrel and propellant. The Mark 8 was an early earth-penetrating bomb (see nuclear bunker buster), intended to dig into the earth some distance prior to detonating. According to one government source, the Mark 8 could penetrate 22 ft of reinforced concrete, 90 ft of hard sand, 120 ft of clay, or 5 in of hardened armor-plate steel. The Mark 8 was 14.5 in in diameter across its body and 116 to long depending on submodel. It weighed 3230 to, and had a yield of 25-30 kilotons. A total of 40 Mark 8 bombs were produced, with 2 variants: an internally carried Mod 0 which had a blunt nose and an externally carried Mod 1 version which had an extension with a more aerodynamic nose. The Mark 8 was succeeded by an improved variant, the Mark 11 nuclear bomb. Both the Mark 8 and the Mark 11 could use the same fissile material "gun cores."
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mark 8 nuclear bomb, revision 1370374665 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Weapon Design: We've done a lot but we can't say much by Carson Mark, Raymond E. Hunter, and Jacob E. Weschler, Los Alamos Science, Winter/Spring 1983, pp 159.
- 2.https://web.archive.org/web/20210825092321/https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/mk8.htm
- 3.Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons, July 1945 through September 1977. E-2. February 1978.
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Broader subject
1- aerial bombTerminology
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Mark 8 nuclear bomb is connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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