B57 Tactical Free-Fall Bomb

B57 is a tactical nuclear bomb developed in the US during the Cold War. Production of the bomb began in 1957 under the brand Mk 57. It was intended for high-speed tactical aviation and had a streamlined body to withstand the flight at supersonic speed. The length of the body was 3 m, diameter - 37.5 cm. The weight of the bomb was about 227 kg.

Some versions of the B57 were equipped with a 3.8 m diameter brake chute to allow the aircraft to escape from the area of ??impact of the damaging factors when discharging from low altitudes (or to avoid the destruction of the bomb when it struck the surface when the fuze was placed on the ground-blast mode). The detonator had several modes of operation, including hydrostatic, which allowed using the B57 as an anti-submarine weapon.

Six B57 modifications were made with a power of 5 to 20 kt. Mod 0 Mod had a power of 5 kt, Mod 1 and Mod 2 of 10 kt, Mod 3 and Mod 4 of 15 kt, Mod 5 of 20 kt. Version B57, used as a depth bomb, replaced the Mk 101 Lulu and had a step changeable power of up to 10 kt.

The B57 was produced from 1963 to 1967. A total of 3,100 devices were produced, the last of which was disarmed in June 1993. Most of the American fighters, bombers and anti-submarine aircraft (S-3 Viking and P-3 Orion), as well as some marine helicopters, including SH-3 Sea King, could carry the B57. In addition, the carriers of the SH-3 B57 were the Canadian CF-104 in Germany, as well as the English anti-submarine aircraft Nimrod, operating from the Mawgan and Kinloss air bases in the UK, as well as from Malta.