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The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. As of 2023, the LGM-30G is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents the land leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, along with the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers.
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying thermonuclear warheads, even if not strictly being limited to them. By contrast, a unitary warhead is a single warhead on a single missile. An intermediate case is the multiple reentry vehicle (MRV) missile which carries several warheads which are dispersed but not individually aimed. Only the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China are currently confirmed to have deployed MIRV missile systems. Pakistan is developing MIRV missile systems. Israel is suspected to possess or be in the process of developing MIRVs.
The B-41 was a thermonuclear weapon deployed by the United States Strategic Air Command in the early 1960s. It was the most powerful nuclear bomb ever developed by the United States, with a maximum yield of 25 megatons of TNT. A top secret document, states “The US has stockpiled bombs of 9 MT and 23 MT...” which would likely be referring to the B-41's actual yield(s). The B-41 was the only three-stage thermonuclear weapon fielded by the U.S.
The W54 was a tactical nuclear warhead developed by the United States in the late 1950s. The weapon is notable for being the smallest nuclear weapon in both weight and yield to have entered US service. It was a compact implosion device containing plutonium-239 as its fissile material, and in its various versions and mods it had a yield of 10 to 1,000 tons of TNT.
The W88 is an American thermonuclear warhead, with an estimated yield of 475 kilotonnes of TNT (1,990 TJ), and is small enough to fit on MIRVed missiles. The W88 was designed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1970s. In 1999, the director of Los Alamos who had presided over its design described it as "the most advanced U.S. nuclear warhead". As of 2021, the latest version is called the W88 ALT 370, the first unit of which came into production on 1 July, 2021, after 11 years of development. The Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) can be armed with up to eight W88 warheads or twelve 100 kt W76 warheads, but it is limited to eight warheads under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.
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.
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The W71 nuclear warhead was a US thermonuclear warhead developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and deployed on the LIM-49A Spartan missile, a component of the Safeguard Program, an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense system briefly deployed by the US in the 1970s.
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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.
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The W49 was an American thermonuclear warhead, used on the Thor, Atlas, Jupiter, and Titan I ballistic missile systems. W49 warheads were manufactured starting in 1958 and were in service until 1965, with a few warheads being retained until 1975.
The W62 was an American thermonuclear warhead designed in the 1960s and manufactured from March 1970 to June 1976. Used on some Minuteman III ICBMs, it was partially replaced by the W78 starting in December 1979, and fully replaced by W87 warheads removed from MX Peacekeeper missiles and retired in 2010.
The W56 was an American thermonuclear warhead produced starting in 1963 which saw service until 1993, on the Minuteman I and II ICBMs.
The W79 Artillery-Fired Atomic Projectile (AFAP), also known as the XM753 (Atomic RA) was an American nuclear artillery shell, capable of being fired from any NATO 8 in (203 mm) howitzer e.g. the M115 and M110 howitzer. Produced in two models, the enhanced radiation W79 Mod 0 and fission-only W79 Mod 1. Both were plutonium-based linear-implosion nuclear weapons.
The W58 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on the Polaris A-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile. Three W58 warheads were fitted as multiple warheads on each Polaris A-3 missile.
The W59 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on some Minuteman I ICBM missiles from 1962 to 1969, and planned to be used on the cancelled GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile.
Kinglet was a boosted fission primary used in several American thermonuclear weapons.
The W60 was nuclear warhead developed for the United States Navy's long range Typhon LR surface-to-air missile.
The Starling was a small American nuclear bomb developed in the 1950s that was used as the primary in several US thermonuclear weapons.
References
- ↑ Hansen, Chuck (2008). Swords of Armageddon Volume VI. pp. 459–460. ISBN 978-0-9791915-6-5.
- ↑ Josserand, Terry Michael (2017-03-01). R&A for UUR_Weapon_History_Phases_20170206 (Report). Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). OSTI 1429158. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ↑ Spinardi, Graham (1990). "Why the U.S. Navy went for Hard-Target Counterforce in Trident II: (And Why it Didn't Get There Sooner)". International Security. 15 (2): 147–190. doi:10.2307/2538868. ISSN 0162-2889. JSTOR 2538868. S2CID 153754053. Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ MIRV: A Brief History of Minuteman and Multiple Reentry Vehicles (PDF) (Report). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 1976. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
- ↑ MIRV: A Brief History of Minuteman and Multiple Reentry Vehicles, p. 62.
- ↑ Swords of Armageddon Volume VI, p. 459-450.
- ↑ Bernard C Nalty (1969). USAF Ballistic Missile Programs 1967-1969 (PDF) (Report). p. 43. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
- ↑ Swords of Armageddon Volume VI, p. 343-345,460-465.
