Operation Redwing

Operation Redwing was a United States series of 17 nuclear test detonations from May to July 1956. They were conducted at Bikini and Enewetak atolls. The entire operation followed Operation Wigwam and preceded Operation Plumbbob. The primary intention was to test new, second-generation thermonuclear devices. Also tested were fission devices intended to be used as primaries for thermonuclear weapons, and small tactical weapons for air defense. Redwing is notable for having demonstrated the first US airdrop of a deliverable hydrogen bomb - test "Cherokee". Because the yields for many tests at Operation Castle in 1954 were dramatically higher than predictions, Redwing was conducted using an "energy budget" - there were limits to the total amount of energy released, and the amount of fission yield was also strictly controlled. Fission, primarily "fast" fission of the natural uranium tamper surrounding the fusion capsule, greatly increases the yield of thermonuclear devices, and contributes the vast majority of the fallout - fusion being a relatively clean reaction.

1.  Operation Redwing, Preliminary Report.  In Flight Participation of a B-66 Airplane. October 1956 [71 Pages] - The objective of this project was to measure the overpressure, gust, and thermal effects of a nuclear detonation on a B-66 aircraft in flight to determine its delivery capability.