Atomic Weapons Family (Orientation Part 3) ~ 1953 Armed Forces Special Weapons Project-USAF

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Atomic Weapons Family (Orientation Part 3). …There are some gaps in the sound where censors edited out classified material.

Reupload of a previously uploaded film with improved video & sound.

Originally a public domain film from the US Government, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

Wikipedia license:

“Fat Man” was the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date (the other being “Little Boy”), and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more generically to the early nuclear weapon designs of U.S. weapons based on the “Fat Man” model. It was an implosion-type weapon with a plutonium core, similar to “The Gadget”, the experimental device detonated only a month earlier on July 16 at Alamogordo Air Field, New Mexico…

The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb design produced starting in 1949 and in use until 1953.

The Mark 4 was based on the earlier Mark 3 Fat Man design, used in the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki. The Mark 3 design was essentially handmade and designed as an emergency wartime expedient design; the Mark 4 utilized essentially the same basic design… reengineered… to be safer and easier to produce…

The Mark 4 was 60 inches (1.5 m) in diameter and 128 inches (3.3 m) long, the same basic dimensions as Mark 3. It weighed slightly more at 10,800 to 10,900 pounds…

In addition to being easier to manufacture, the Mark 4 introduced the concept of in flight insertion…

Various versions of the Mark 4 had explosive yields of 1, 3.5, 8, 14, 21, 22, and 31 kilotons (4 to 130 TJ).

A total of 550 Mark 4 nuclear weapons were produced…

The Mark 6 nuclear bomb was an American nuclear bomb based on the earlier Mark 4…

The Mark 6 was produced from 1951-1955 and saw service until 1962. Seven variants and versions were produced, with a total production run of all models of 1100 bombs.

The basic Mark 6 design was 61 inches in diameter and 128 inches long, the same basic dimensions as the Mark 4 and close to the Mark 3. Various models weighed 7,600 to 8,500 pounds.

Early models of the Mark 6 utilized the same 32-point implosion system design concept as the earlier Mark 4 and Mark 3… later used a different, 60-point implosion system.

Various models and pit options gave nuclear yields of 8, 26, 80, 154, and 160 kilotons…

The Mark 5 nuclear bomb and W5 nuclear warhead were a common core nuclear weapon design, designed in the early 1950s and which saw service from 1952 to 1963.

The Mark 5 design was the first production American nuclear weapon which was significantly smaller than the 60 inch (150 cm) diameter implosion system of the Fat Man nuclear bomb design first used in 1945, down to 39 inches (99.1 cm) diameter. The Mark 5 design used a 92-point implosion system (see Nuclear weapon design) and a composite Uranium/Plutonium fissile material core or pit…

Mark 7 “Thor” (or Mk-7′) was the first tactical nuclear bomb adopted by US armed forces. It was also the first weapon to be delivered using the toss method with the help of the low-altitude bombing system (LABS). The weapon was tested in Operation Buster-Jangle. To facilitate external carry by fighter-bomber aircraft, Mark 7 was fitted with retractable stabilizer fins. Mark 7 was a dial-a-yield capsule-type weapon with fissile (or fissionable) elements (uranium 235) stored in a separate container. The Mark 7 warhead (W7) also formed the basis of the 30.5 inch (77.5 cm) BOAR rocket, the Mark 90 Betty nuclear depth charge, and MGR-1 Honest John rocket and MGM-5 Corporal ballistic missile. It was also supplied for delivery by Royal Air Force Canberra aircraft… The Mark 7 was in service from 1952 to 1968 with 1700-1800 having been built…

The W9 was an American nuclear artillery shell fired from a special 11 inch howitzer. It was produced starting in 1952 and all were retired by 1957…

The W9 was 11 inches (280 mm) in diameter, 55 inches (138 cm) long, and weighed 850 pounds (364 kg). It had an explosive yield of 15 kilotons…