Thermonuclear · United States · 1960
B41
B41 (Mk-41)
The most powerful weapon ever deployed by the United States: 25 Mt for less than 5 tons.
See B41 in the 3D simulator- Yield
- 25 MtDocumented
- Energy
- 105 PJ
- Mass
- 4.8 tDocumented
- Dimensions
- 3.76 m · Ø 1.32 mDocumented
- Type
- Three-stage thermonuclear bomb
- Period
- Cold War
- Status
- Retired
B41 releases about 1,700 times the energy of Little Boy (Hiroshima, 1945).
Key points
- Record yield-to-weight ratio for its time: ≈ 5.2 Mt per ton.
- A test of a similar design (Poplar, 1958) produced 9.3 Mt.
History
Replaced by the B53, less powerful but better suited to the bombers of the time.
- 1958 Design tests (Operation Hardtack).
- 1960 Enters service.
- 1976 Withdrawn from service.
How does it work?
A thermonuclear weapon (“H-bomb”) first uses a fission explosion, which creates the extreme conditions needed to fuse light nuclei (hydrogen isotopes).
Fusion releases a lot of energy per unit of mass and is not limited by a critical mass: this is what makes the megaton range and beyond possible.
One megaton (Mt) is the energy of one million tons of TNT, about 4.2 × 10¹⁵ joules.
Deliberately general explanations: the application provides no design or manufacturing information.
Frequently asked questions
How powerful is B41?
B41 has an estimated yield of 25 Mt of TNT equivalent, about 105 PJ of energy.
What is the history of B41?
In service from 1960 to 1976. Replaced by the B53, less powerful but better suited to the bombers of the time.
What does the B41 explosion look like?
The Bomb Simulator shows the fireball, shock wave and cloud of B41 at real scale, over Paris, London or New York, with the sources and reliability of each value.
Sources
- B41 nuclear bomb — Wikipedia (overview, to be cross-checked)
Other weapons
- Trinity — 25 kt
- Little Boy — 15 kt
- Fat Man — 21 kt
- RDS-1 — 22 kt
- Hurricane — 25 kt
- RDS-6s — 400 kt
- Gerboise Bleue — 70 kt
- 596 — 22 kt
- Davy Crockett — 20 t
- Ivy Mike — 10.4 Mt
- Castle Bravo — 15 Mt
- RDS-37 — 1.6 Mt
This application is an educational tool. The animations and effect zones are simplified representations meant to illustrate orders of magnitude. They are neither a prediction of the effects of a real weapon nor a military planning tool.