Mark 28/B28 Bomb
A Bomb for all purposes
Weapon Specifications
Note that the relationship between explosive power and destruction is not linear—a weapon’s destructive effects grow far more slowly than its explosive power.
Explosive Power
70 kt or 1.45 Megatons
Hiroshima Equivalent Factor
Up to 97x
Dimensions
8 to 14 ft. x 20 or 22 inches
Weight
1,700–2,320 lbs.
Year(s)
1958–1991
Purpose
A highly configurable bomb system
NukeMap
Simulated destruction of a Mark 28 bomb at Palomares, Spain. Click on the map to change parameters.
Videos
These curated videos provide additional context for this weapon — showing test footage, deployment scenes, technical explanations, interviews, or other historical material, allowing viewers to go deeper into the weapon’s design, use, and place in nuclear history.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia, Global Security (note the photographs)
- The Mark 28 and the B28 bomb are the same bomb–military designation systems changed during its years of service
- Sandia National Lab’s 1968 “History of the Mark 28 Weapon” is part of a large and valuable trove of documents at the Pfeiffer Nuclear Weapons and National Security Archive.
- Compare the small size of the Mark 28 bomb to others, such as the Mark 36, from that same era.
- The Mark 28/B28 bomb was produced in large numbers–about 4500 were made–and was in service for an astonishing thirty-three years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was involved in several major nuclear accidents. In 1961 four B28s were dropped over the Spanish coastline near the town of Palomares. One bomb fell into the ocean. In 1968, a bomber crashed near Thule AFB, way north of the Arctic Circle, in Greenland. In addition, there are claims that in 1960 a Mark 28 was loaded on a plane that caught fire and completely burned at the U.S. airbase at Greenham Common, England.
- There is a “Mark 28” nuclear bomb in the popular video game Fallout, but it bears little resemblance to the actual weapon.
- The Hound Dog and Mace missiles used the same warhead (W28) as the B28 (links to American Nukes forthcoming).