The B83 replaced several earlier weapons, including the B28, B43, and to some extent the ultra-high yield B53. It was the first U.S. nuclear weapon designed from the start to avoid accidental detonation, with the use of 'insensitive' explosive in the trigger lens system. Its layout is similar to the smaller B61, with the warhead mounted in the forward part of the weapon to deliberately make the bomb nose-heavy. It was intended for high-speed carriage (up to Mach 2.0) and delivery at either high or low altitude. For the latter role, it is equipped with a parachute retardation system, with a 46 ft (14 m) Kevlarribbon parachute capable of rapid deceleration. It can be employed in free fall, retarded, contact, or laydown modes, for either air burst or ground burst detonation. Security features include next-generation permissive action link (PAL) locks, and a command disablement system (CDS), rendering the weapon tactically useless without a nuclear yield.
The bomb is 12 ft (3.67 m) long, with a diameter of 18 in (457 mm); the actual nuclear explosive package, judging from published drawings, occupies some 3 or 4 feet (90 to 120 cm) in the forward part of the bomb case. The bomb weighs approximately 2,400 lb (1,089 kg); the location of the lifting lugs shows that the greater part of the total mass is contained in the nuclear explosive. It has a variable yield: the destructive power is adjustable from somewhere in the low kiloton range up to a maximum of 1.2 megatons.
A B83 casing.
The B83 can be deployed by a wide range of U.S. aircraft including:
About 650 B83s were built, and the weapon remains in service as part of the United States "Enduring Stockpile."
Novel uses
The B83 is one of the weapons considered for use in the "Nuclear Bunker Buster" project, which for a time was known as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or RNEP. While most efforts have focused on the smaller B61-11 nuclear bomb, Los Alamos National Laboratory was also analyzing the use of the B83 in this role.
This weapon has been considered for use against any Near Earth Asteroids, with six weapons being used to 'knock' an asteroid off course, should it pose a risk to the earth.citation needed
