The B61 Family is a series of nuclear weapons based on the B61 nuclear bomb.
The B61 bomb was developed by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL; now Los Alamos National Laboratory) starting in 1960. The intent was to develop an aircraft bomb which was high yield (over 100 kilotons) and yet was small enough and had low enough drag to carry under the wing of a fighter or fighter-bomber type aircraft. One major feature was Full Fuzing Option, allowing various air and ground burst usage options; free fall air burst, parachute retarded air burst, free fall ground burst, parachute retarded ground burst, and laydown delivery.
The B61 project started in 1960 with a study contract analyzing the potential of such a weapon. The official development program was funded in 1961, and the weapon was designated TX-61 (Test/Experimental) in 1963. The first TX-61 free fall ballistic test was held at Tonopah Test Range on August 20, 1963. The first War Reserve B61-0 was accepted by the AEC on December 21, 1966. [1]
The original models of B61 used PBX 9404, an HMX based plastic bonded explosive to implode the fissile material in the primary stage. Newer models use TATB based PBX 9502, which is an insensitive high explosive (IHE) and will resist detonation in adverse conditions such as fire, shock and impact.
The overall B61 bomb is 13.3 inches (340 mm) in diameter and 141 inches (3,600 mm) long, and weighs approximately 700 pounds (320 kg) across most mods.
The nuclear device within the outer B61 envelope is probably the same overall dimensions and weight as the W80 warhead, which is 11.8 inches (300 mm) in diameter, 31.4 inches (800 mm) long and weighs about 290 pounds (130 kg).
The W69 missile warhead was produced in the early 1970s for use in the AGM-69 SRAM Short Range Attack Missile. The W69 was 15 inches (380 mm) in diameter and 30 inches (760 mm) long, weighed 275 pounds, and had a yield of 170-200 kilotons.
1,500 W69 warheads were produced.
The W73 missile warhead was designed for the AGM-53 Condor air to ground missile. Other than being described as a derivative of the B61, details of the W73 design are poorly documented.
Both the W73 and the Condor missile were cancelled and never entered service.
Two versions of the W80 cruise missile warhead were designed and deployed. Both are the same basic size and shape and weight: 11.8 inches in diameter, 31.4 inches long, and weight of 290 pounds.
The BGM-109 Tomahawk TLAM-N cruise missile was equipped with a W80-0 warhead. The W80-0 used supergrade plutonium with less inherent radioactivity, due to missile storage in close proximity to submarine crew. The weapon lacks the metal attachment points featured on the Mod 1 variant and instead features a plastic guard of some sort. The W80-0 has a variable yield of 5 or 150 kilotons.
367 W80-0 warheads were produced.
The AGM-86 ALCM and ACM cruise missiles used the W80-1 variant warhead. It has a yield of 5 or 150 kilotons.
1,750 W80-1 warheads were produced.
The W81 missile warhead was designed for use on the SM-2 missile. An enhanced radiation version was proposed, but the final version was fission-only. Detailed dimensions and weight are unknown. Yields are described as 2-4 kilotons.
The W81 was cancelled and never entered service.
The W84 is a LLNL design based on the B61, used in the Ground Launched Cruise Missile. It is slightly larger (13 inches diameter, 34 inches long) and heavier (388 pounds) than the otherwise similar W80 warheads, possibly to make it safer for ground handling in the field.
Between 300 and 350 W84 warheads were produced. They remain in US inactive inventory.
Used on the Pershing II IRBM missile, the W85 warhead was a cylinder 13 inches (330 mm) in diameter and 42 inches (1,100 mm) long. It had a variable yield from 5 to 80 kilotons.
120 W85 warheads were produced. They were recycled into B61 Mod 10 bombs after Pershing II was scrapped.
Some sources have described the W86 as being B61 derived, [2] but other sources have described the W86 as being 170 millimetres (6.7 in) in diameter, substantially smaller than the B61. [3]
A nuclear bunker buster, also known as an earth-penetrating weapon (EPW), is the nuclear equivalent of the conventional bunker buster. The non-nuclear component of the weapon is designed to penetrate soil, rock, or concrete to deliver a nuclear warhead to an underground target. These weapons would be used to destroy hardened, underground military bunkers or other below-ground facilities. An underground explosion releases a larger fraction of its energy into the ground, compared to a surface burst or air burst explosion at or above the surface, and so can destroy an underground target using a lower explosive yield. This in turn could lead to a reduced amount of radioactive fallout. However, it is unlikely that the explosion would be completely contained underground. As a result, significant amounts of rock and soil would be rendered radioactive and lofted as dust or vapor into the atmosphere, generating significant fallout.
Nuclear artillery is a subset of limited-yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets. Nuclear artillery is commonly associated with shells delivered by a cannon, but in a technical sense short-range artillery rockets or tactical ballistic missiles are also included.
The B83 is a variable-yield thermonuclear gravity bomb developed by the United States in the late 1970s that entered service in 1983. With a maximum yield of 1.2 megatonnes of TNT (5.0 PJ), it has been the most powerful nuclear weapon in the United States nuclear arsenal since October 25, 2011 after retirement of the B53. It was designed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Variable yield, or dial-a-yield, is an option available on most modern nuclear weapons. It allows the operator to specify a weapon's yield, or explosive power, allowing a single design to be used in different situations. For example, the Mod-10 B61 bomb had selectable explosive yields of 0.3, 5, 10 or 80 kilotons, depending on how the ground crew set a dial inside the casing when it was loaded onto an aircraft.
The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is a low to intermediate-yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation implosion design.
The B28, originally Mark 28, was a thermonuclear bomb carried by U.S. tactical fighter bombers, attack aircraft and bomber aircraft. From 1962 to 1972 under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing program, American B28s also equipped six Europe-based Canadian CF-104 squadrons known as the RCAF Nuclear Strike Force. It was also supplied for delivery by UK-based Royal Air Force Valiant and Canberra aircraft assigned to NATO under the command of SACEUR. In addition, certain U.S. Navy carrier based attack aircraft such as the A3D Skywarrior, A4D Skyhawk, and A3J Vigilante were equipped to carry the B28.
The W69 was a United States nuclear warhead used in the AGM-69 SRAM.
The Ground Launched Cruise Missile, or GLCM, was a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War and disarmed under the INF Treaty.
The W80 is a low to intermediate yield two-stage thermonuclear warhead deployed by the U.S. enduring stockpile with a variable yield ("dial-a-yield") of 5 or 150 kilotonnes of TNT.
The W85 was a thermonuclear warhead developed by the United States of America to arm the Pershing II missile. It was a variable yield device with a selectable yield of 0.3, 5, 10 or 80 kilotonnes of TNT.
Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task.
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon (NSNW) is a nuclear weapon that is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territory. Generally smaller in explosive power, they are defined in contrast to strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed mostly to be targeted at the enemy interior far away from the war front against military bases, cities, towns, arms industries, and other hardened or larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war. As of 2023, tactical nuclear weapons have never been used.
The W81 was a planned American warhead to be mounted on the SM-2 surface-to-air missile used by the United States Navy. The W81 was believed to be derived from the B61 nuclear bomb which forms the backbone of the current US nuclear gravity bomb arsenal and from which the W80 cruise missile warhead is derived. The weapon was being designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The W50 was an American thermonuclear warhead deployed on the MGM-31 Pershing theater ballistic missile. Initially developed for the LIM-49 Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile, this application was cancelled before deployment. The W50 was developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. The W50 was manufactured from 1963 through 1965, with a total of 280 being produced. They were retired from service starting in 1973 with the last units retired in 1991.
The W84 is an American thermonuclear warhead initially designed for use on the BGM-109G Gryphon Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM).
The W86 was an American earth-penetrating nuclear warhead, intended for use on the Pershing II intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The W86 design was canceled in September 1980 when the Pershing II missile mission shifted from destroying hardened targets to targeting soft targets at greater range. The W85 warhead, which had been developed in parallel with the W86, was used for all production Pershing II missiles.
The W73 was a planned nuclear warhead for the AGM-53 Condor air to surface missile and designed by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The W73 warhead was cancelled in 1970 in favor of a purely conventional warhead for Condor. Condor was approved for production in 1975 with a expected production run of 250 missiles, but was cancelled in early 1976 due to high cost.
A strategic nuclear weapon (SNW) refers to a nuclear weapon that is designed to be used on targets often in settled territory far from the battlefield as part of a strategic plan, such as military bases, military command centers, arms industries, transportation, economic, and energy infrastructure, and heavily populated areas such as cities and towns, which often contain such targets. It is in contrast to a tactical nuclear weapon, which is designed for use in battle as part of an attack with and often near friendly conventional forces, possibly on contested friendly territory.
The W60 was nuclear warhead developed for the United States Navy's long range Typhon LR surface-to-air missile.
