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W49
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 weapon itself was a Mark 28 Y1 warhead modified for the missile role. History Initial development of the Mod 0 warhead Development began in mid-1956 with the need for a warhead for the then in development Thor, Atlas, Jupiter and Titan missiles. This led to work being performed to develop the XW-35 and XW-35-X1 warheads, with the high-yield, improved X1 to enter service approximately one year after the XW-35. However, development of these missiles was delayed and it became apparent to designers that the planned service entry date for the XW-35-X1 would now be the same as the missiles (except for Jupiter), leading to the cancellation of the XW-35 and the decision to fit XW-28 warheads to Jupiter as an interim warhead until the X ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PGM-17 Thor
The PGM-17A Thor was the first operative ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was named after the Thor, Norse god of thunder. It was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with hydrogen bomb, thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. The first generation of Thor missiles were rushed into service, and design mistakes resulted in a 24% launch failure rate. The competing PGM-19 Jupiter missile saw more use, but both were quickly eclipsed by the Air Force's long range ICBM program, which could be fired from U.S. soil. By 1959, with the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas missile well on its way to operational status, both Thor and Jupiter programs became obsolete as delivery vehicles, yet continued to be built and deployed until 1963 for political reasons and to maintain aerospace industry employment. The missile's lasting legacy continued as the Thor (rocket family), Thor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PGM-19 Jupiter
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear weapon, nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and Liquid oxygen, LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne S-3D, Rocketdyne LR79-NA (model S-3D) rocket engine producing of thrust. It was armed with the W49 nuclear warhead. The prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation. The Jupiter was originally designed by the US Army, which was looking for a highly accurate missile designed to strike enemy states such as China and the Soviet Union. The US Navy also expressed an interest in the design as an SLBM but left the collaboration to work on their solid-fuel UGM-27 Polaris, Polaris. Jupiter retained the short, squat shape intended to fit in submarines. Development history Initial concept Jupiter traces its history ultimately to the PGM-11 Redstone missile, the US's first nuclear ballistic missile. While it was entering service, Wernher von ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SM-65 Atlas
The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at an assembly plant located in Kearny Mesa, San Diego. Development dates to 1946, but over the next few years the project underwent several cancellations and re-starts. The deepening of the Cold War and intelligence showing the Soviet Union was working on an ICBM design led to it becoming a crash project in late 1952, along with the creation of several other missile projects to ensure one would enter service as soon as possible. The first test launch was carried out in June 1957, which failed. The first success of the Soviet R-7 Semyorka in August gave the program new urgency, leading to the first successful Atlas A launch in December. Of the eight flights of the A model, only three were successful, but the later models demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B28 Nuclear Bomb
The B28, originally Mark 28, was a thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear bomb carried by United States, 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 Canadair CF-104 Starfighter, CF-104 squadrons known as the RCAF Nuclear Strike Force. It was also supplied for delivery by UK-based Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant, Valiant and English Electric Canberra, Canberra aircraft assigned to NATO under the command of SACEUR. In addition, certain U.S. Navy carrier based attack aircraft such as the A-3 Skywarrior, A3D (later A-3B) Skywarrior, A-4 Skyhawk, A4D (later A-4) Skyhawk, and A-5 Vigilante, A3J (later A-5A) Vigilante were equipped to carry the B28. Production history Initial development of the IN and EX weapons During the design of the Mark 15 nuclear bomb, TX-15 in 1953 it became evident to designers that massive reductions in size and weight of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Nuclear Weapons
This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states. The United States, Russia, China and India are known to possess a nuclear triad, being capable to deliver nuclear weapons by land, sea and air. United States American nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting with the Mark 1 and () ending with the W91 (which was cancelled prior to introduction into service). All designs which were formally intended to be weapons at some point received a number designation. Pure test units which were experiments (and not intended to be weapons) are not numbered in this sequence. Early weapons were very large and could only be used as free fall bombs. These were known by "Mark" designators, like the Mark 4 which was a development of the Fat Man weapon. As weapons became more sophisticated they also became much smaller and lighter, allowing them to be used in many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starfish Prime
Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency. It was launched from Johnston Atoll on July 9, 1962, and was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space, and one of five conducted by the US in space. A Thor rocket carrying a W49 thermonuclear warhead (designed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) and a Mk. 2 reentry vehicle was launched from Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, about west-southwest of Hawaii. The explosion took place at an altitude of , above a point southwest of Johnston Atoll. It had a yield of . The explosion was about 10° above the horizon as seen from Hawaii, at 11 pm Hawaii time. Operation Fishbowl The Starfish test was one of five high-altitude tests grouped together as Operation Fishbowl within the larger Operation Dominic, a series of tests in 1962 begun in response to the Soviet announcement on August 30 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Program 437
Program 437 was the second anti-satellite weapons program of the U.S. military.Peebles, Curtis. "High Frontier: The United States Air Force and the Military Space Program", 1997 The US anti-satellite weapons program began development in the early 1960s and was officially discontinued on 1 April 1975. Program 437 was approved for development by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on November 20, 1962, after a series of tests involving high altitude nuclear explosions. The program's facilities were located on Johnston Island, an isolated island in the north central Pacific Ocean. History The US's first anti-satellite system was Program 505, based at the Kwajalein Missile Range, about halfway between Hawaii and the Philippine islands. This system became operational in 1962, based on the Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile that had been tested at that site. These missiles had been modified for greater range, but even with these modifications the system could only interc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. Nuclear bombs have had yields between 10 tons (the W54) and 50 megatons for the Tsar Bomba (see TNT equivalent). Yields in the low kilotons can devastate cities. A thermonuclear weapon weighing as little as can release energy equal to more than 1.2 megatons of TNT (5.0 PJ). Apart from the blast, effects of nuclear weapons include firestorms, extreme heat and ionizing radiation, radioactive nuclear fallout, an electromagnetic pulse, and a radar blackout. The first nuclear weapons were developed by the Allied Manhattan Project during World War II. Their production continues to require a large scientific and industrial complex, pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron Generator
Neutron generators are neutron source devices which contain compact linear particle accelerators and that produce neutrons by fusing isotopes of hydrogen together. The nuclear fusion, fusion reactions take place in these devices by accelerating either deuterium, tritium, or a mixture of these two isotopes into a metal hydride target which also contains deuterium, tritium or a mixture of these isotopes. Fusion of deuterium atoms (D + D) results in the formation of a helium-3 ion and a neutron with a kinetic energy of approximately 2.5 MeV. Fusion of a deuterium and a tritium atom (D + T) results in the formation of a helium-4 ion and a neutron with a kinetic energy of approximately 14.1 MeV. Neutron generators have applications in medicine, security, and materials analysis. The basic concept was first developed by Ernest Rutherford's team in the Cavendish Laboratory in the early 1930s. Using a linear accelerator driven by a Cockcroft–Walton generator, Mark Oliphant l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permissive Action Link
A permissive action link (PAL) is an access control security device for nuclear weapons. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized arming plug, arming or Nuclear chain reaction, detonation of a nuclear weapon. The United States Department of Defense definition is: The earliest PALs were little more than locks introduced into the control and firing systems of a nuclear weapon, designed to prevent a person from detonating it or removing its Nuclear weapon design, safety features. More recent innovations have included Encryption, encrypting the firing parameters it is programmed with, which must be decrypted to properly detonate the warhead, and anti-handling device, anti-tamper systems which intentionally mis-detonate the weapon if its other security features are defeated, destroying it without giving rise to a nuclear explosion. History Background Permissive action links were developed in the United States in a gradual process from the Nuclear weapons testing, first use of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polonium-210
Polonium-210 (210Po, Po-210, historically radium F) is an isotope of polonium. It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days (about months), the longest half-life of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes (210–218Po). First identified in 1898, and also marking the discovery of the element polonium, 210Po is generated in the decay chain of uranium-238 and radium-226. 210Po is a prominent contaminant in the environment, mostly affecting seafood and tobacco. Its extreme toxicity is attributed to intense radioactivity, mostly due to alpha particles, which easily cause radiation damage, including cancer in surrounding tissue. The specific activity of is 166 TBq/g, i.e., . At the same time, 210Po is not readily detected by common radiation detectors, because its gamma rays have a very low energy. Therefore, can be considered as a quasi-pure alpha emitter. History In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered a strongly radioactive substance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KAERI
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI; ) in Daejeon, South Korea was established in 1959 as the sole professional research-oriented institute for nuclear power in South Korea, and has rapidly built a reputation for research and development in various fields. History KAERI was established in 1959 as the Atomic Energy Research Institute (national research institute). Spin off companies and institutions KAERI has made significant contributions to the nation's nuclear technology development. After Korea achieved self-reliance in nuclear core technologies, KAERI have transferred highly developed technologies to local industries for practical applications. * The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), responsible for supporting the government in regulatory and licensing works, and the Nuclear Environment Technology Institute, responsible for low and medium level radioactive waste management, are also originally spin-offs from KAERI. * KAERI established the presen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
