The Mark 105 Hotpoint was an airdropped nuclear bomb developed for the United States Navy using the 11 kiloton
W34 warhead. It was developed in the 1950s as the first nuclear bomb purposely designed for laydown delivery (
bunker buster
A bunker buster is a type of munition that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers.
Armor piercing shells
Germany
Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed b ...
) but could also be used for airburst or as a
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...
. The laydown mechanism utilized both a retarding parachute to slow its descent, a nose cone that is ejected by a small explosive charge prior to impact, and a reinforced steel "cookie cutter" nose that absorbs the shock of impact with the ground. Detonation occurred via a time delay system which could be adjusted depending on intended use. The bomb was long depending on how it was carried, in diameter, and weighed . The bomb was deployed from 1958-1965.
[ The Nuclear Weapons of the United States Navy 1945 – 2013 by Don G. Boyer (Microsoft Word Document), March 2013 pp. 22-23.]
See also
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W34 (nuclear warhead)
*
Mk 101 Lulu
The Mark 101 Lulu was an airdropped nuclear depth charge developed by the United States Navy and the Atomic Energy Commission during the 1950s. It carried a W34 nuclear warhead, with an explosive yield of about 11 kilotons. It was deployed by t ...
References
{{United States nuclear devices
Cold War anti-submarine weapons of the United States
Depth charges
Nuclear bombs of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s