SIR - I should like to comment, albeit belatedly on Dr David Baker's article `The Ultimate Sanction', February 1999, page 84. The author refers to "production of the B36 bomb, a weapon with a yield of 15-25 MT in service between 1956 and late 1961." The bomb was actually the Mk 17 and had a maximum yield of 20 MT, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon to go into service. It weighed approximately 42,000lb (19,050kg) and was only carried by the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, which could carry two in tandem in the bomb baby.
On May 22, 1957, an operational MK 17 was inadvertely dropped by a B-36 coming in to land at Kirkland AFB, New Mexico. The bomb broke through the closed bomb bay doors and fell into a field. The high explosive content detonated, creating a crater 25ft (8m) in diameter and 12ft (4m) deep, killing a hapless cow. Fortunately, at that time, the initiator was carried seperately in the aircraft and was only inserted in the bomb when approaching the target area. This event was not disclosed to the public until the late 1980s and then only to local newspapers.
My apologies for not writing sooner on this subject. I trust that to the historian, six years is but as yesterday.
Leonard E. Capon
Mesa, AZ, USA