W93

Last updated
W93
Type Nuclear weapon
Service history
In servicePlanned from 2034
Used by United States Navy
Production history
Designer Los Alamos National Laboratory
DesignedPlanned from 2023
Specifications
Detonation
mechanism
Contact, airburst

The W93 is an American nuclear warhead planned to replace the W76 and W88 warheads on United States Navy submarines from 2034. The warhead will be carried on the new Columbia-class submarines [1] and will use a new aeroshell, the Mark 7 reentry body (RB). [2] The warhead will be designed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. [3]

Contents

The Mark 7 RB will also be used to house the United Kingdom's new warhead, designed in parallel to the W93 and sharing some non-nuclear components. [4]

Design

The warhead is expected to incorporate improved safety features such as insensitive high explosives. [1] The design will be based on previously tested nuclear components and will not require nuclear testing. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UGM-27 Polaris</span> Submarine-launched ballistic missile

The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockpile stewardship</span>

Stockpile stewardship refers to the United States program of reliability testing and maintenance of its nuclear weapons without the use of nuclear testing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W80 (nuclear warhead)</span> Nuclear weapon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W88</span> United States thermonuclear warhead

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W76</span> US thermonuclear warhead of the 1970s

The W76 is an American thermonuclear warhead, designed for use on the UGM-96 Trident I submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and subsequently moved to the UGM-133 Trident II as Trident I was phased out of service. The first variant, the W76 mod 0 (W76-0) was manufactured from 1978 to 1987, and was gradually replaced by the W76 mod 1 (W76-1) between 2008 and 2018, completely replacing the Mod 0 in the active stockpile. In 2018 it was announced that some Mod 1 warheads would be converted to a new low-yield W76 mod 2 (W76-2) version. The first Mod 2 warheads were deployed in late 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM-134 Midgetman</span> Intercontinental ballistic missile

The MGM-134A Midgetman, also known as the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the United States Air Force. The system was mobile and could be set up rapidly, allowing it to move to a new firing location after learning of an enemy missile launch. To attack the weapon, the enemy would have to blanket the area around its last known location with multiple warheads, using up a large percentage of their force for limited gains and no guarantee that all of the missiles would be destroyed. In such a scenario, the U.S. would retain enough of their forces for a successful counterstrike, thereby maintaining a deterrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medium Atomic Demolition Munition</span>

Medium Atomic Demolition Munition (MADM) was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War. It was an atomic demolition munition (ADM), a combat engineering device for demolition of structures and for battlefield shaping. The device contained a W45 warhead with an estimated yield of 0.5 to 15 kilotonnes of TNT. Each MADM weighed 391 pounds (177 kg) in its transportation container. They were deployed between 1962 and 1986.

The W66 thermonuclear warhead was used on the Sprint anti-ballistic missile system, designed to be a short-range interceptor to shoot down incoming ICBM warheads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W50 (nuclear warhead)</span> Nuclear weapon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W87</span> American thermonuclear missile warhead

The W87 is an American thermonuclear missile warhead formerly deployed on the LGM-118A Peacekeeper ("MX") ICBM. 50 MX missiles were built, each carrying up to 10 W87 warheads in multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), and were deployed from 1986 to 2005. Starting in 2007, 250 of the W87 warheads from retired Peacekeeper missiles were retrofitted onto much older Minuteman III missiles, with one warhead per missile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W56</span> American thermonuclear warhead designed in the late 1950s/early 1960s

The W56 was an American thermonuclear warhead produced starting in 1963 which saw service until 1993, on the Minuteman I and II ICBMs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark 4 nuclear bomb</span> Air-dropped Nuclear fission weapon

The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was an American implosion-type nuclear bomb based on the earlier Mark 3 Fat Man design, used in the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki. With the Mark 3 needing each individual component to be hand-assembled by only highly trained technicians under closely controlled conditions, the purpose of the Mark 4 was to produce an atomic weapon as a practical piece of ordnance. The Mark 4 Mod 0 entered the stockpile starting March 19, 1949 and was in use until 1953. With over 500 units procured, the Mark 4 was the first mass-produced nuclear weapon.

The Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) was a proposed new American nuclear warhead design and bomb family that was intended to be simple, reliable and to provide a long-lasting, low-maintenance future nuclear force for the United States. Initiated by the United States Congress in 2004, it became a centerpiece of the plans of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to remake the nuclear weapons complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W59</span> American thermonuclear missile warhead

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W86</span> Nuclear weapon

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 W67 was an American thermonuclear warhead developed from June 1966 but then cancelled prior to any production or service use approximately 18 months later.

The Mark 27 nuclear bomb and closely related W27 warhead were two American thermonuclear bomb designs from the late 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RK-55</span> Russian surface and submarine-launched nuclear cruise missile

The Novator RK-55 Relief is a Russian Navy cruise missile that is launched either from submarines (SLCM) or from surface ships. It can have a nuclear warhead developed in the Soviet Union. A version launched from submarine torpedo tubes, the S-10 Granat, has apparently been converted to carry conventional warheads and continues in service to this day. The Russian Federation was reported to have deployed the derivative SS-CX-7/SS-CX-8 systems on 14 February 2017. The land launched version is called the Novator 9M729.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile; works to reduce the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the United States Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Agnew</span> American physicist

Harold Melvin Agnew was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

References

  1. 1 2 Kramer, David (2020). "Take your pick: A new warhead or a "new program of record"". Physics Today. 73 (4): 26–28. Bibcode:2020PhT....73d..26K. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4451. S2CID   216372082.
  2. The W93 Warhead (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  3. W93/MK7 Acquisition Program (PDF). National Nuclear Security Administration. Jan 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  4. Harries, Matthew (22 October 2020). "Will America Help Britain Build a New Nuclear Warhead?". War on the Rocks. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  5. Whitney Spivey (26 July 2021). "Envisioning the W93". Los Alamos National Laboratory. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.