From city-flattening nukes to runway-cracking giants.
1. B41 Thermonuclear Bomb
Yield: Up to 25 megatons (MT) of TNT
Type: Hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear)
Era: Cold War (1950s–1976)
The B41 holds the record as the most powerful nuclear weapon ever developed by the United States. Designed as a high-yield hydrogen bomb, its explosive force was nearly 1,500 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. It was retired in the 1970s due to strategic shifts in nuclear doctrine.
2. Mk-17/Mk-24 Hydrogen Bombs
Yield: Around 10–15 megatons
Type: First-generation thermonuclear bomb
Era: 1950s
These were among the first deliverable hydrogen bombs. Massive and cumbersome (each weighing over 20 tons), they required specially modified bombers. Though short-lived in service, they marked a leap in American nuclear capability.
3. B83 Nuclear Bomb
Yield: Up to 1.2 megatons
Type: Strategic thermonuclear bomb
Era: Introduced in 1983, still in limited stockpile
The B83 is the most powerful nuclear weapon currently in the U.S. arsenal. It’s far more compact and accurate than its Cold War predecessors and has adjustable yield settings (“dial-a-yield”) for flexible tactical or strategic use.
4. GBU-43/B MOAB (“Mother of All Bombs”)
Yield Equivalent: Approx. 11 tons of TNT (non-nuclear)
Type: Thermobaric conventional bomb
Era: First used in combat in 2017 (Afghanistan)
The MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat by the U.S. military. Dropped from a C-130 cargo plane, it’s designed to vaporize targets in a wide area using a massive overpressure blast. It was used to destroy ISIS tunnel networks in Afghanistan.
5. T-12 Cloudmaker
Yield Equivalent: Approx. 9.5 tons of TNT (non-nuclear)
Type: Conventional “earthquake” bomb
Era: 1940s–1950s
Designed during World War II and based on British Grand Slam bombs, the T-12 was used to penetrate hardened underground targets like bunkers and submarine pens. It was never used in combat but demonstrated the massive destructive potential of deep-penetration conventional weapons.
Chief Overexplainer