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TheMark 10 nuclear bomb was a proposed Americannuclear bomb based on the earlierMark 8 nuclear bomb design. The Mark 10, like the Mark 8, is agun-type nuclear weapon, which rapidly assembles severalcritical masses of fissile nuclear material by firing a fissile projectile or "bullet" over a fissile "target", using a system which closely resembles a medium-sized cannon barrel and propellant.
The Mark 10 was intended to be a general purpose airburst nuclear weapon, unlike the Mark 8 which was intended to penetrate into the ground as aNuclear bunker buster. It was nicknamed the "Airburst Elsie"; the Mark 8 had been nicknamed the LC or Light Casing bomb, which was then expanded to "Elsie." The bomb was 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter and weighed 1,500 or 1,750 pounds (680 or 790 kg).[1] It had a design yield of 12 to 15kilotons.
The Mark 10 design was cancelled in 1952, replaced by the implosion-typeMark 12 which was lighter and used considerably less fissile material.