Operation Buster-Jangle

Nuclear test Operation Buster-Jangle
	; Buster-Jangle Dog
information
nation	United States
Test location	Nevada Test Site
Period	October – November 1951
Number of tests	7th
Weapon type	fission
Max. Explosive force	31 kT
navigation
Previous test	Operation Greenhouse
Next test	Operation tumbler snapper

Operation Buster-Jangle was a series of American nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site in late 1951 . A total of seven tests were carried out, six of them above ground and one underground.

It was the first joint operation between the US Department of Defense and the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Laboratory . Two operations took place at the same time: Operation Buster and Operation Jangle. A total of 6,500 soldiers took part in the Desert Rock I, II and III combat exercises during the tests.

The individual tests of the Buster Jangle series

Operation Buster

bomb	Date / Time ( GMT )	Proving Ground	Explosion height	Test type	Explosive force (predicted)	Remarks
Able	October 22, 1951 2 p.m.	Area 7	30 meters (100 feet)	tower	Misfire (200 tons of TNT equivalent )	Misfire, a nuclear reaction occurred, but it was less than the charge of the conventional explosive to ignite
Baker	October 28, 1951 3:20 p.m.	Area 7	340 meters (1118 feet)	Dropped from a B-50 bomber	3.5 kT (3–8 kT)
Charlie	October 30, 1951 3:00 p.m.	Area 7	345 meters (1132 feet)	Dropped from a B-50 bomber	14 kT (12-15 kT)
Dog	November 1, 1951 3:30 p.m.	Area 7	432 meters (1417 feet)	Dropped from a B-50 bomber	21 kT (18-25 kT)	First "troop test" by the US Department of Defense. As part of the "Desert Rock I" maneuver, 2,796 soldiers observed the explosion from a distance of almost 11 kilometers. After the detonation, 883 soldiers moved within 450 meters of the dropping point. Dog was a test of the Mark 4 nuclear weapon.
Easy	November 5, 1951 4:30 p.m.	Area 7	400 meters (1314 feet)	Dropped from a B-45 bomber	31 kT (22–35 kT)	Easy was the strongest test on the American continent to date. Testing a prototype of the Mark-7 bomb.

Operation Jangle

bomb	Date / Time ( GMT )	Proving Ground	Explosion height	Test type	Explosive force (predicted)	Remarks
Sugar	November 19, 1951 5:00 p.m.	Area 9	1 meter (3.5 feet)	Surface explosion	1.2 kT (1.3 kT)	First and only surface test within the USA; Maneuver "Desert Rock II". Sugar was supposed to investigate the effects of a surface explosion: The explosion created a six-meter-deep crater with a diameter of 27 meters, a total of 1,400 cubic meters of earth were evaporated and carried by the fireball to a height of 3.5 kilometers. Due to the proximity to the ground, the test generated a particularly strong dose rate (7500 roentgen / hour [converted 71.4 Gy / h] at the edge of the crater), which is why later nuclear tests were carried out on high towers or balloons.
Uncle	November 29, 1951 7:59 p.m.	Area 10	−5 meters (−17 feet)	Underground test	1.2 kT (1.3 kT)	First underground nuclear test; Maneuver "Desert Rock III"

gallery

The Desert Rock military exercise during the Dog Test, Yucca Flats, November 1, 1951
Buster jangle Charlie
Buster jangle Charlie
Buster-Jangle Easy
Buster-Jangle Dog
Buster-Jangle Dog
Soldiers observe the Buster-Jangle Dog nuclear test during a combat exercise, November 1951
Buster-Jangle Uncle