B43 nuclear bomb

with a ZELL-Verfahren rocket booster and a B-43 nuclear bomb at Gatow, Germany. Carrier aircraft included most USAF, USN and USMC fighters, bombers and attack aircraft, including the A-3 Skywarrior, A-4 Skyhawk, A-5 Vigilante, A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair II, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, B-58A Hustler, F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief, F-4 Phantom II, F-104 Starfighter, FB-111A strategic bomber variant, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Hornet. The B-1B Lancer was also intended to carry the B43, though it remains unclear whether this particular aircraft was ever type-approved to carry the B43 prior to the B-1's reassignment to conventional strike roles. The B43 was also supplied for delivery by Royal Air Force Canberra and Valiant aircraft assigned to NATO under the command of SACEUR. ==Broken Arrow==

The B43 was never used in combat, but it was involved in a nuclear accident when an A-4E Skyhawk, BuNo 151022, of the (from Attack Squadron VA-56), was lost off the coast of Japan on 5 December 1965 when it rolled off an elevator, in of water in the Pacific Ocean, from Kikai Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Skyhawk was being rolled out of the number 2 hangar bay, onto the number 2 elevator, when it continued over the edge and was lost. Neither the pilot LTJG D. M. Webster, airframe, nor the bomb were ever recovered. No public mention was made of the incident at the time and it would not come to light until a 1989 US DoD report revealed that one of these one-megaton bombs (which had recently been retired from service and replaced) had gone missing. Japan then asked for details of the incident. ==Withdrawn==

The B43 was phased out in the 1980s, and the last B43 weapons were retired in 1991 in favor of the newer B61 and B83 weapons. ==See also==