B53 Bomb

Weighing 8,850 lbs and spanning 12 feet and four inches, the B-52 was around the size of a large car and was mainly transported by B-52 bombers. The B53 was built to be bigger and better than the USSR’s ‘Tsar’ bomb, which was described as the ‘king of bombs’. Although the ‘Tsar’ bomb had the biggest blast, but the weight and size of the bomb limited its range and speed.

When detonated, the B53 could have produced a fireball of nearly three miles in diameter. Anybody within 18 miles of the blast’s epicentre was expected to be killed by the intense heat created by the blast. Most buildings within 10 miles of the blast would have been destroyed. However, the B53 was primarily designed as a ‘bunker buster’ to destroy the deep underground bunkers where Soviet Union commanders were thought to operate.  The bomb had the potential to destroy everything remotely near it, leaving a smoldering crater. This was the U.S. plan for “victory” in a nuclear war right up until the implosion of the Soviet Empire.

The B53 nuclear bomb was a two-stage implosion weapon using highly enriched uranium and 95 per cent enriched Lithium-6 deuteride fusion fuel. It was produced in two versions including B53-Y1 and B53-Y2. The nuclear weapon was designed to be air dropped using five parachutes, while the free fall delivery was also possible by jettisoning the "can" with the parachutes.

The B53 was initially supposed to be retired in the 1980s, but 50 units remained in the active stockpile until the deployment of the B61-11 in 1997.The B53s were set for immediate disassembly, but the process was slowed down by safety concerns. It was not until 2011 that the final bomb was dismantled.

See also:

Detente

The Nuclear Arms Race